Most everyone agrees that health care in the United States
has major problems, the biggest problems relating to skyrocketing costs. No one
doubts the system is in need of reform. However, too many in Washington see
tighter government controls as the solution. In fact, the problems are rooted
in past government controls that created more problems than they solved.
Ironically, laws and policies in the 1970’s promoting Health
Maintenance Organizations resulted from desperate attempts to control spiraling
costs. However, instead of promoting an efficient health care system, HMOs took
far too much control away from patients and physicians and gave it to the
insurers. This excessive reliance on third-party payers instead removed
incentives for insured patients to economize on health care costs, and allowed
the problem to snowball. Furthermore, the third-party payer system created a
two-tier health care system where people whose employers could afford to offer
“Cadillac” plans have access to top quality health care, while others face
financial obstacles in obtaining quality health care.
For these and other reasons, I introduced the Private Option
Health Care Act. This bill places individuals back in control of health care by
replacing the recently passed tax-spend-and-regulate health care law with
reforms designed to restore a free market health care system.
First, the bill would provide all Americans with a tax
credit for 100 percent of health care expenses. This tax credit is fully
refundable against both income and payroll taxes. It would also allow
individuals to roll over unused amounts in cafeteria plans and Flexible Savings
Accounts. Next, it would provide a tax credit for premiums for high-deductible
insurance policies connected with a Health Savings Account and allow seniors to
use funds in HSAs to pay for medigap policies. In addition, it would repeal the
7.5 percent threshold for the deduction of medical expenses, and thus would
make all medical expenses tax deductible.
This bill would also create a competitive market in health
insurance by exercising Congress’s constitutional authority under the commerce
clause to allow individuals to purchase health insurance across state lines. Ending
these state-imposed bans would create a competitive national marketplace in
health insurance.
The Private Option Health Care Act would also ensure that
people harmed during medical treatment receive fair compensation while
simultaneously reducing the burden of costly malpractice litigation on the
health care system. The bill achieves this by providing a tax credit for
negative outcomes insurance purchased before medical treatment. This type of
insurance would provide compensation for any negative outcomes without having
to go through lengthy litigation or giving huge sums to trial lawyers.
Finally, the Private Option Health Care Act would lower the
prices of prescription drugs by reducing barriers to the importation of Food
and Drug Administration-approved pharmaceuticals. Under my bill, anyone wishing
to import a drug simply submits an application to the FDA, which then must
approve it unless it is either not approved for use in the United States or is
adulterated or misbranded.
The Private Option Health Care Act allows Congress to
correct the mistake it made last month by replacing the new health care law
with health care measures that give control to individuals, instead of the
federal government and corporations. Our health is too vital to allow for the
typical results of government interference and “fixes.”
* Ron Paul is the Republican congressman from the 14th
Congressional District in Texas. He is an obstetrician and former U.S. Air Force flight surgeon. This essay appeared in his June 1 Texas
Straight Talk column. Texas Straight Talk can be found on line at http://www.house.gov/paul/index.shtml
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