Healthcare Reform Takes a Hard Turn to the Left
The road to healthcare reform took a hard left turn this week.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada announced that he would bring a bill with a public option to the Senate floor for a vote, despite the Senate Finance Committee’s rejection of the notion.
As I write, details of the proposal are sketchy, but it’s clearly designed to appease Senate liberals. It would be a national, government-run program that would negotiate payment rates with doctors, hospitals and other healthcare providers.
In an attempt to gain moderate senators’ support, Sen. Reid’s proposal would allow states to opt out of the government program at some point, which hasn’t been determined. Sen. Reid’s attempts to appeal to the left wing while also keeping his moderates happy may well backfire. Two prominent centrists, Sens. Joe Lieberman (Conn.) and Olympia Snowe (Maine), have already come out against his public option proposal, and concerns have been raised by others such as Sens. Evan Bayh (Ind.), Mary Landrieu (La.) and Blanche Lincoln (Ark.).
The opt-out, as outlined by Sen. Reid, comes with a high price tag in terms of access and affordability. In an effort to coerce states to remain part of the government-run public option, the opt-out is all or nothing. If your state decides not to participate in the public plan, then your state may forfeit opportunities to access other private market solutions. This isn’t providing states or small business owners with more choices. Instead, it’s saying take the government plan, or risk leaving all the other options at your state line.
In addition, if you opt-out as a state, you’ll still be paying – and paying and paying. So, while an opt-out provision may sound good, in the end, we’ll all still be paying for it. Why? Because even if a state opts out of the program, it appears likely that all taxpayers will be on the hook to pay for it, whether it’s financing subsidies or simply the long-term costs of running yet another complex bureaucracy.
States don’t need a public option to spur competition. They need a reformed marketplace where all private insurers have incentives to compete. The public option doesn't lead to more competition, but it does set up perverse disincentives that will further stifle the private-market competition that NFIB has fought for all these years.
Reform for the sake of reform is not what small business wants or needs. Instead, we want access to a reformed private marketplace with lower costs, more affordable options and real competition for our healthcare dollars.
That is the message we’ve shared throughout the health reform debate, and it’s the same message we’re taking to the White House today. This morning, I will accompany a group of NFIB members to the White House for a meeting with President Obama in which he will discuss healthcare reform, the economy and their effects on small business. We’ll be listening carefully and will report back to you whether the priorities and solutions we’ve been fighting for are addressed in today’s remarks.
This debate isn’t over, so be sure to follow the latest important developments on the long road to reform here.
P.S. Please plan to join us Tuesday, Nov. 3 for a members-only conference call and Q&A session where we will discuss these proposals and their effects on small businesses. Go here for information about how you can participate.