Monday, September 10, 2007

No Late Deals on our Health Care

The following is an article reprinted from the September 10 issue of the Orange County Register and written by Mike Villines, State Assembly GOP leader. You can visit his website linked through the title of this article for more information on California health care issues or visit this website for current updates: Republican Assembly on Health Care Reform

Monday, September 10, 2007
Mike Villines: No late deals on our health care
When it comes to health care: slow down, listen, and think.
By MIKE VILLINES
State assembly GOP leader

If history can teach us anything, it's that cutting deals at the last minute and rushing half-baked deals through the Legislature at the 11th hour is a recipe for failure – especially when it involves something as important and complex as California's health care system.

Remember energy deregulation? At the time, lawmakers touted the sweeping legislation as a plan that would lower costs and improve service for all. A few years later, Californians were stuck paying billons of dollars for these empty promises, forced to endure rolling blackouts and record budget deficits, while paying higher rates for inferior service.

Unfortunately, history seems to be repeating itself this year with the end-of-session push to pass health care legislation. Press accounts have revealed that Gov. Schwarzenegger and the Democrats are preparing to cut a deal on a harmful plan that could increase your insurance rates by up to 40 percent, hurt businesses and jobs, and lead to higher taxes for all Californians. Worst of all, not only is this plan being put together out of the public eye, it will ultimately not provide more access to care.

Before the governor and Democrats ram through a government health care scheme without legislative scrutiny or public input, I think it's important that we all take a step back and think through the impact our actions will have on health care in our state for generations. If we proceed in passing this hastily crafted plan, we will be repeating the colossal mistakes of the past and make the current problems far worse. Does that make sense to you?

The experiences in other countries, like Canada, show that we could face a rationing of care while government bureaucrats decide what treatments you can receive. Patients could be forced to wait several months just to receive basic health services, such as a routine MRI. Seniors with serious illnesses could be denied life-saving treatments if they are determined to not be "cost-effective."

By imposing massive tax increases, including a jobs tax on every California business and a sales tax increase on all Californians, government health care will cause taxpayers to feel pain where it hurts most – their wallets.

Those who already have insurance will see their rates increase. One of California's major health insurance providers says this plan will force them to raise premiums on nearly all of the 600,000 individuals who buy coverage from them. Younger, healthier Californians could see their premiums rise as much as 50 percent! Again I ask, does this make sense to you?

There are also serious legal flaws in this plan. It may violate the federal ERISA law, which forbids states from forcing companies to provide specific health benefits to their workers or pay a jobs tax. A similar plan in Maryland was thrown out in court for violating ERISA, yet Democrats refuse to hold a hearing on the legality of this plan.

Not that long ago Gov. Schwarzenegger declared, "A tax increase would be the final nail in California's financial coffin." Assembly Republicans agree that raising taxes to pay for expanded government health care is the wrong approach.

It's time for all of us to take a deep breath and realize just what's at stake this year. A partisan vote that ignores the serious problems with their plan is not the way to reform health care. We don't need to rush through flawed legislation at the last minute just for the sake of headlines. Policy by press release is never a good idea. Lawmakers can and must take the time to do this right. There is a lot we can to together to provide more access and choice to quality care while reducing costs, without raising taxes or expanding the size of government.

Mike Villines, of Fresno, is the Republican Leader of the California State Assembly. He represents the 29th Assembly District in the State Legislature.

John Pack
Low Cost Health Insurance

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I agree with an early comment in the article. Things thrown together at the last minute never work. Should be a law against that.