Why do government officials think they have all the answers on health care?
It seems like every time they try to address a problem facing the society, they respond with more regulations, more government controls, and we get less freedom and the problem only gets worse.
The latest example of this behavior can be found in Massachusetts. As one of the first states to address the uninsured problem in healthcare you can learn a lot from their actions. Now, given the fact that the entire nation is expected to implement health care reforms designed around the Massachusetts model everyone should watch Massachusetts closely.
The problem is most Americans don’t seem to pay attention until it affects them directly, and sometimes, it is too late. As if you don’t know, the last Congress passed the healthcare reforms know as the Patient Affordable Care Act, that mandates everyone buy or be covered by insurance or face penalties for not doing so. In addition, the regulations require each state establish a health care exchange to help people and small business acquire this coverage. The model, like the one in Massachusetts was sold as a way to reduce cost for everyone, because it will eliminate the “uninsured” problem by requiring everyone to join the risk pool. Great in theory, but will it work.
Well, you don’t have to wonder or wait to see how the PPACA reforms will work out. You can just review the experience in the Bay State to find out now. Since the establishment of the Massachusetts reform law, the state has reduced the number of uninsured now reported to be less than 3%…they have even created their own healthcare insurance exchange called the Mass Connector. So access to quality insurance has been made simple. But have they reduced cost for the citizens and businesses of the state.
Apparently not. Just recently as found in a report on rising health care costs, Attorney General, Martha Coakley, suggests the states effort to drive down “out of control health care costs” will only work if state leaders implement price controls on hospitals and doctors. By her own admission, “a move to global payments is not the panacea to controlling costs without first addressing provider price disparities that are not related to the quality or complexity of the services being provided.”
It is amazing that almost five years after the state enacted the health care reform law, state leaders (aka the government) now say they are working to lower health care costs by putting patients, and the doctors who treat them, on a budget that limits what hospitals and doctors can charge for care. Has anyone asked why health care costs are rising in Massachusetts even after the reform law? Someone should!
So the answer is more government, more controls and that is all it takes to reduce costs according the the AG. These so called “state leaders” promote themselves as highly educated individuals who want to serve the citizens. When will we get leaders with real answers instead of the leaders who are leading us in the wrong direction. Even temporary restrictions will only hurt the very people who they say they want to help.
The next time you hear, or read that “your leaders” are working to address one of the most important issues confronting families and businesses, be prepared to lose some liberty and some cash, or both, until you can throw the bums out.
