Weekly Columns and Op-Eds

Tomorrow the House will vote to repeal the onerous health care law. This law represents one of the largest government takeovers of a major sector of the economy—health care. Make no mistake, reforms are needed. But the law passed last year, consisting of 2,200 pages that went unread by many members of Congress, creates far more problems than it tried to solve.

As a new Member of Congress, I take this vote very seriously. I am a dentist. My background as a health care provider and small business owner has compelled me to view this law closely and with the first hand knowledge I gained in this area. When I look at a bill, or now, a law that is under review, I look at it as any other person from Main Street America would. First and foremost, we should ask: does this law help the good people of Arizona’s First Congressional District? Second, is it good for the country? The reason I plan on voting for repeal is that the answer to both questions is a resounding “no.” 

In this case, the negatives of the onerous health care law far outweigh the positives. I’ve sat chair-side as a dentist for 25 years. I am very familiar with the burdensome red tape the government and insurance companies have imposed on health care professionals and small business owners. What troubles me about this law is that it inserts a bureaucrat between you and your doctor. This law was also passed with little to no input from the American people. The process lacked transparency. That is not a prescription for success. 

There is no doubt we need to transform our health care system in America, but there are better ways to do it. First, we need to implement a patient-centered health care system that empowers individuals and focuses on preventative health care. We also need to stop the monopoly held by insurance companies and increase competitiveness. I was one of the dentists that came to Capitol Hill and talked to lawmakers about the importance of repealing the McCarran-Ferguson Act. The House voted to repeal this Act last Congress on a 406-19 vote, but the Senate failed to take it up. As a Member of Congress, I am going to push to ensure that the Act is repealed so that insurance companies are forced to operate on a free-market based system and competition is allowed across state lines.

Finally, we also need to enact real tort reform. If states like California and Texas can pass these reforms, there is no reason that Washington can’t come together to find a bi-partisan solution. Healthcare providers are now forced to practice “defensive medicine,” which skyrockets the cost of care, because health care providers fear that, unless they order the patient to undergo every diagnostic test imaginable, someone might sue.   

After I cast my vote tomorrow the real work begins. We need to start passing substantive health care reform that includes things like ensuring patients with pre-existing conditions have coverage. We can find a method that provides coverage options to everyone. We also need to ensure that the health care reforms we implement are just that, real reforms. It’s time to put the patient first, not government bureaucrats. And it is time that we put forward a health care system based on free market reforms so that we can actually lower the cost of care, eliminate defensive medicine due to lawsuit abuse, and increase access.

Source:
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/healthcare/138555-getting-health-care-right-a-second-chance-rep-paul-gosar