Monday, November 23, 2009
Health care editorial was hypocritical
From the RoundTable blog
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Bob Goodlatte
Goodlatte, a Republican, represents Virginia's 6th District, which includes Roanoke, in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Roanoke Times' Nov. 15th editorial "The health care nitty-gritty" regarding health care was so riddled with inconsistencies and hypocrisy that I must respond.
There is no disagreement that our health care system needs reform. Health care costs are skyrocketing, making it increasingly difficult or even impossible for Americans to pay for health care. This is an unacceptable reality. However, a government takeover of health care is not the answer.
I read with amazement as the editorial board danced a delicate dance heaping praise on both Rep. Rick Boucher for his vote against the health care reform bill and Rep. Tom Perriello for his vote for the bill all the while managing to imply criticism of my vote against the bill, dismissing it as "partisan." That's a stretch even for The Roanoke Times.
Readers of The Roanoke Times must be especially baffled by the inconsistencies in the cartoon that accompanied the editorial.
The cartoon depicts an elderly woman, the fictional Ms. Krubish, writing a letter to me as her congressman. She is apparently disappointed in my vote against the Pelosi bill yet doesn't want me to "advise" her on "how to manage" her health care. But had I voted for a government takeover of health care, that's exactly what would happen.
The Pelosi bill would create a new "health choices commissioner," a bureaucrat who will have the power to decide what benefits patients receive. I believe that those decisions should be made between patients and their doctors.
Furthermore, the bill contains $730 billion in new taxes and more than $500 billion in cuts to Medicare. Krubish definitely would not like that.
A recent report by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services confirms that the legislation would sharply reduce benefits for senior citizens and could jeopardize access to care for millions of others.
The report found that the bill would raise health care costs by $289 billion over the next 10 years and the Medicare cuts in the bill are likely to prove so costly to hospitals and nursing homes that they could stop taking Medicare patients altogether.
It has been estimated that as many as 114 million people would lose their current health coverage under the bill. These are legitimate concerns driven by the needs and realities of my district.
Contrary to the myth advanced by the cartoon published in The Roanoke Times, members of Congress in fact do not receive "free" health care. They participate in the same health insurance program as every federal employee in this country, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.
Under this program, federal employees must pay a significant portion (more than 25 percent) of the health insurance they purchase, which is similar to other employer-sponsored health care plans.
There are multiple options, thus the insurance providers must compete with each other to obtain an employee's business. Increasing competition across state lines as the FEHBP program does would help drive down health care costs and increase access to care.
We must also work to provide health care to individuals who do not receive health care from their employers. One way to do this is to provide health insurance tax credits for individuals and families who do not have access to employer-sponsored health care.
Additionally, we should increase the number of community health centers, like New Horizons in Roanoke, to help ensure that everyone has access to quality care.
We must also allow individuals and small businesses to join large pools to get more competitive rates, provide tort reform to cut down the high cost of defensive medicine, allow full tax deductibility of health insurance premiums, allow portability of health insurance and protect against pre-existing condition exclusions.
These are the reforms the American people want and need.
I agree with the editorial board of The Roanoke Times that we should engage in serious debate that will move reform forward.
But I strongly disagree with the inference of the editorial board that the debate should only occur among Democrats. This issue is much too important to be politicized.
Instead, Congress should be working in a bipartisan manner to help Americans obtain the best quality health care at the least cost, and ensure that the government fosters increased access to quality care based on individual choice.
