Affordable health care is achievable, but not with the current health care law.
Liberty provides people the options to choose how to live their lives. I do not have the responsibility to dictate for other people the choices they make in their lives. In the past few months, a small group in the federal government decided that because 10% of the country does not have health care insurance (some of them by their choice), 100% of Americans must change their health insurance. The same Democrat party that talks on and on about a “woman’s right to choose” what to do with her body just told every man and woman in America when, where, and how they can get health care. Where did all their passion for choice go?
My daughters will not have the same health care options I have had because of a few members of the Washington elite. What will that mean for them? In the days to come we will never know what medical advances were not discovered because private research dollars were suspended. Which hospital will close in days to come because it cannot afford to stay open privately? Which great future doctor will not go into medicine because he or she does not want to be a government employee?
If anyone honestly believes that the problems with health care in America can be resolved by more federal government control, they are sadly mistaken. Our national debate over health care should really be a debate in each state. Nowhere in the Constitution does it give the right or responsibility to the federal government to manage health care. There are many states, including Oklahoma, that have made strides in creating affordable health insurance. Oklahoma should also lead the way in tort reform, protecting patients and doctors.
The federal government’s role should be to remove the barriers that impede ingenuity by doing such things as increasing portability of insurance from group plans to individual plans and expanding the options for risk pools for individuals and small businesses. The federal government is working to limit the number and role of insurance companies when we should be removing the barriers so that we have more companies and more competition. There are insurance issues that need to be addressed, but the new health care law only compounds the problems and the costs instead of solving the problems.
When individuals own their own insurance and they watch prices and manage their own money, costs go down. We should encourage individuals to start their own health savings accounts (HSA). These allow people to buy catastrophic insurance and to put their money into a HSA so they can spend it for health care as they wish.
In Congress I will aggressively work to stop the funding to implement the new health care law. Then, I will work with a coalition of conservative House members to pass a free market based health care reform that will be consistent with our national values and Constitutional authority. The health care law was bad medicine from the beginning. It must be stopped and replaced.
James,
Thank you for your stance on health care reform. I am writing this from Capital Hill in D.C. after spending a disappointing day and a half in Washington. I am here for a “health care and politics” conference and have been meeting with our legislative representatives from Oklahoma while I am here. I could not agree more that the debate on health care should be a state by state issue! I look forward to your election so that you can make a difference for the citizens of Oklahoma as well as our nation. Debbie
James:
We must combat the entitlement notion that is creeping into healthcare. As more and more healthcare is being paid by third-party agencies (be it Medicare, Medicaid, insurance companies, etc), patients take less and less ownership of their own health and well-being. I believe that the general unhealthiness of America exists because people do not value their healthcare. Those on Medicaid pay at times a trivial (50-cent) copay to see a doctor. They don’t see value in the care they receive, and thus are less likely to adhere to their doctor’s recommendation/prescription. Compliance studies show that Medicaid patients have far less successful outcomes of treatment, not because of a lack of access to care, but because of a lack of adherence to the care that is delivered/recommended/prescribed to them. Why? Because they don’t value their bodies as much as they value their possessions. Studies have been done in various fields where patients whom had a higher copay assigned to them (even as little as raising their copay from 50 cents to 3 dollars or so) caused a significant impact in their adherence to doctor’s recommendations and improvement of their disease-state goals (such as improvement of glycemic control in diabetics, which ultimately will reduce risks of stroke, heart attacks, kidney failure, etc.). Psychology theory states that a consumer of a “product” like health care will not take value in it without any initial investment, and will continue to abuse what they have (i.e. their body). People will take care of their bodies if they see that their self-imposed abuses (smoking, bad diet, sloth, etc) will cost them more money. Currently, the government or their insurance company shoulders the majority of the cost.
Now that we look like we are going to have “free health care” after 2014, can one imagine what the overall health of Americans will be like after that? Why bother taking care of yourself, when you know that the Government will pick up the tab? Obamacare will create a real health crisis in this country beyond anything that we now can imagine. The health of millions of Americans rests on the implementation of Obamacare, and as such, it must be either repealed or seriously revamped prior to 2014.
To those that feel I am evil for asking that the poor pay more for their health care….you haven’t been interrupted by them getting phone calls on their iPhone while in my clinic. A very modest increase in their copay will improve their health far beyond what the government purportedly can do for them, by instilling psychological value and ownership of their own health.
Let me tell you about this self-employed family’s experiences with health insurance,and with socialized medicine.
In 1989, the company that my husband had worked for 11 years went out of business, and he became self-employed. We had wonderful insurance with his company. It cost us about 50.00 per month,with the company paying another 50.00, for a total of 100.00. When he was let go we were offered the chance to keep our insurance-for 363.00 per month. Same family, same health profile, almost quadruple the cost.
We found some insurance with a much higher deductible for about 150.00 per month.
By 2005,with rate hikes and reduction of services, that insurance cost 600.00 dollars per month for a 5000.00 deductible, no prescription coverage and no preventative care.
And this was the BEST we could find. We’re not stupid. we did lots of research and comparison shopping.
Also we were charged extra for living in a high cost area, plus when we filed a claim a portion of it was always denied be cause it was “above reasonable and customary,” so we were penalized twice because of where we live.(NW 30th & May) After it took so long for the insurance company to pay our providers that they were threatening to turn us over to collection, we dropped the insurance.
My husband now uses Veterans health services, and I use Indian Health services.We are very satisfied with the quality of care we receive, especially the emphasis on preventative care. We try to keep an emergency fund for things not covered by these agencies. We are not deadbeats. We are honest, hardworking people trying to be good stewards of our money.
Those of you who have always had relatively inexpensive group insurance have been living in a false reality. Our story is not unusual. Ask your self-employed friends.
I don’t know if Obama care is the answer, but something needs to be done.
tell me what the people who can’t afford health insurance at the prices they are today and what will you do to lower these cost. most people that have families and make under $50000 have trouble with the cost. being a christian do you believe everyone should have the best healthcare available no matter there status in society?
The elephant in the room needs to be addressed. Obamacare may is not the answer to prayers, but it is an answer. When I sit in ER’s and see that it is actually the low-income answer for lacking a family doctor, there is a major problem. Why? Because those expensive ER bills get paid when I visit the doctor. This needs to change and Obamacare takes a stab at it.
However, it does not address what Jess talks about, our nations’ health. In a society where are culture consists of unhealthy fast food and it is cheaper to buy a burger and fries than broccoli and oranges, what do we expect. The extremely subsidized product known as corn is used to make high fructose corn syrup. This allows soda and other sweets to be extremely cheap and more likely to be purchased by low-income families who make up the large amount of people in the ER.
James, if you want to help better our health care system, I think you should make it more economical for low-income (and more likely to be unhealthy) families to live and eat in such a way that they don’t need health care.
I found this today on Newt.org, I wasn’t aware of some of it, wanted to pass it along to you. Did know if you read this or not. Thank you for running for Congress, we need to take back America with conservative values.
Top 5 Surprises in Obamacare
The more the American people have learned about Obamacare since it was passed the more they dislike it. And with good reason. Here is a list of some recent surprises buried in the 2,300 pages of legislation.
1. Beginning in January 2012, businesses are required to file with the IRS for every business to business transaction over $600. This includes all transactions, not just health based ones. (Section 9006).
2. A new program (the Community Living Assistance Program) was established that is woefully underfunded by the bill and will eventually require much more money than allocated. (Section 8002).
3. As of January 2014, states must expand Medicaid coverage to all individuals under the age of 64 with family incomes at or below 133% of the federal poverty level. States already do not have the resources to provide adequate Medicaid coverage and this law will add millions more to Medicaid rolls. (Section 2001, as modified by 10201 and H.R. 4872; Sec. 1004 and 1201).
4. Beginning January 2011, individuals are not allowed to use Flexible Savings Accounts, Health Reimbursement Accounts, and Health Savings Accounts to purchase over-the-counter medicines. The law also caps annual contributions at $2,500, down from $5,000. Many Americans (especially younger ones in relatively good health) rely on FSAs, HRAs, and HSAs to help pay for healthcare. This law makes these consumer-oriented tools that encourage smart shopping less convenient and provides a perverse incentive for individuals to buy expensive prescription medicine instead of over-the-counter alternatives. (Section 9003).
5. Verizon, AT&T, Caterpillar and other companies publicly acknowledged that the tax structure of the new law actually encourages companies to stop providing coverage for their employees beginning in 2014. (Section 1003).
Furthermore, despite promises from President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats that the bill would not add a dime to the deficit, the most recent CBO study confirms that the projected deficit has increased by $71 billion due to newly enacted legislation (namely healthcare reform). Read more here.
Lipstick on a Pig
These revelations have further solidified opposition to Obamacare, so much so that according to the latest Rasmussen poll, 56% of the American people now support repealing the bill entirely. That includes 46% who strongly support its repeal.
It’s gotten so bad that the White House is now advising Democrats to stop trying to defend Obamacare on its merits and instead pledge to “improve” it.
There is only way to “improve” a 2,300 page, $2.5 trillion, budget-busting bill that raises costs, lowers the quality of care and kills jobs:
Repeal it and start over.
Anything else is, as the saying goes, putting “lipstick on a pig.”
Fortunately, there is an easy way to get your congressman on the record to see if he or she will support repealing Obamacare.