Health care bill needs mending

Message to Congress: The health care reform gift many of your members want to deliver by Christmas can wait awhile longer. While reform is needed, the present legislation contains more humbug than cheer.

After months of debate and much maneuvering behind closed doors by the majority party, the plan on the Senate's table is too much the result of a political volleyball game than healthy discussion about what's best for the country. The Democrats must not use their large majority to ram through reform without regard for the legislation's consequences. Republicans, who at times have been overly obstructionist, need to focus more on solutions.

We urge Congress to step back and review the major reasons for seeking reform: curb health care costs that have soared beyond the ability of many Americans and businesses to cope with, and find ways to help 47 million Americans get insurance coverage. Accomplishing the latter depends largely on achieving the first.

The fate of reform legislation currently lies in the Senate. And its promise seems to be fading because it wouldn't control costs. No way.

The latest analysis of the Senate proposal, announced Friday, verifies our skepticism. Nonpartisan economic experts at the U.S. Health and Human Services Department concluded that, under the bill, health care costs would grow even more rapidly than they have in recent years. They also declared the proposal to squeeze nearly $500 billion in savings from Medicare over 10 years “may be unrealistic.”

So, without cost control, how does this bill improve health care in America? Wouldn't it, instead, simply add to an already crushing debt this nation is carrying, leading to inflation, extending high unemployment rates and making it even less likely that affordable quality health care is available for the vast majority of Americans?

Consider that as Congress wrestles with this complicated, difficult issue, it also must authorize another $1.8 trillion in federal borrowing for next year in other to avoid default and keep the government running. That would bring total federal debt to $14 trillion - a staggering burden on our nation, our children.

Certainly, reforms in health care are sorely needed, but in total they must not add to our unacceptable debt level. Here are some things we believe are critical in any final overhaul.

l People with pre-existing medical conditions must not be denied insurance coverage.

l Provide tax incentives for businesses, especially small businesses, so they are able to offer insurance coverage to employees.

l Knock down interstate barriers to buying insurance if it increases choices for consumers.

l Require health care providers to produce better patient outcomes for the money. Eliminate the fee-for-service model that drives a wedge between patients and doctors and sparks defensive medicine, which drives up costs. Coordinated, instead of fragmented, care for patients with payment based on results is an alternative worth trying.

l Require standardized insurance forms. Local hospitals and clinics now wade through dozens of different forms, causing more administrative expense.

l Devise effective strategies that encourage wellness and prevention practices by individuals and companies.

The controversial “public option” for government-run coverage was dropped from the Senate bill last week. However, other changes were announced. One would offer the government's Medicare program to those 55 to 64 if they can't find private coverage. Another would create a national health plan that private insurers would operate - yet it would allow the government to step in if the private sector didn't participate enough.

We don't necessarily oppose a national insurance exchange or insurance co-ops established by the government if they offer more choices and increase competition. But if the federal government gets directly involved in running them, we fear ever-escalating programs and unmanageable costs.

Medicare is a prime example. While it serves many retirees well, expansion of its programs, including the drug prescription benefit, have put it on an unsustainable financial path. There is no realistic plan in place to fix it.

How can we afford to expand Medicare again, even as this nation struggles to rebound from the deepest economic recession in decades? How can we afford health care reform if it adds to liabilities that already threaten to stall our economy for years to come?

The Senate bill is a lump of coal. Take more time to reshape it, Congress.