Why We Cannot Afford a Government-Run Healthcare System

Health care reform starts with guaranteeing universal coverage at a manageable cost to our country.

The Obama Administration has set aside over $600 billion as a down payment for healthcare reform, at least half of which is slated to come from increased tax revenues. The entire healthcare package is estimated to cost as much as $1.6 trillion over the next decade.

The key to solving our nation’s healthcare crisis is universal coverage. But with close to 50 million uninsured people in our country, coverage must be done in a way that avoids massive deficit spending.

One common theme throughout current health care proposals is the public plan “option,” which would compete with private healthcare plans for enrollment. In actuality, this “option” would drive all the major players out of the healthcare market, greatly interfering with patient choice. This “option ” would also require a permanent increase in government spending.

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Universal healthcare coverage depends on a public-private healthcare partnership.

The most efficient and cost effective means of achieving universal coverage is to work within the realms of the current healthcare market:

  • Require all Americans to get insurance, and require insurers to cover all applicants.
  • Determine premiums based on basic demographics like age and gender, not individual health status.
  • Provide sliding scale premium assistance to allow all Americans affordable coverage.

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Americans appreciate choice and quality in their healthcare options.

Private insurance plans allow patients to take control of their healthcare options, empowering Americans to make decisions based on their plan preferences and chosen doctors. A government-run “option” would replace consumer choice with federal government dictates.

Currently, 170 million people in the U.S. are privately insured, and their satisfaction with private plans continues to increase. As of 2007, 82 percent of Americans were satisfied with their health insurance, compared to 77 percent in 1993.

Private insurers, who cover over half of the U.S. population, are making great strides in innovative care coordination, quality improvement, and prevention and wellness programs – all of which have become the backbone of our current healthcare system. Mass movement of Americans into a government-run healthcare system threatens to set back achievements made in providing quality care at lower costs.

The government-run health care “option” would also decrease access to care. Because Medicare often pays less than commercial insurers, 24 percent of medical practices already limit the number of Medicare patients they accept, and 30 percent of Medicare patients have trouble finding a primary-care doctor.

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Private health care plans are the pillars that hold up our nation’s health care system. Policy proposals that do not recognize current market trends will have devastating economic costs.

The two major government-run healthcare programs underpay with “take-it-or-leave-it” dictates, providing an ever-lower fraction of the cost of patient care. As of 2005, Medicare paid hospitals only 92 percent of the cost of services, and Medicaid paid only 87 percent of patient care costs.

The private sector is forced to bear the brunt of these Medicare and Medicaid underpayments. In 2007 alone, the government shifted $88 billion worth of unpaid costs to the employers and families that pay insurance premiums. 

Supporters of a government-run healthcare “option” want to offer lower insurance premiums to more people, but the resulting lower payments to healthcare providers put our entire healthcare system at risk. Most hospitals lose money on every group of patients they see other than the privately insured.

Public “option” spending would be controlled through lower payments for patient care, prescription drugs, and medical technology. With increased numbers of Americans shifting to the public “option,” doctors and hospitals would not be able to turn down payments that fall below market rates. This threatens the profitability of our hospitals and medical clinics, which serve as major economic engines throughout the state.

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