Healthcare (October 2011)

You could feel the excitement in the air at the Office of the Federal Register in late March as the administration was finally releasing its widely anticipated proposed rule on Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). Physicians, group practices, hospitals and nurses all rushed to get a copy of the rule, several hundred pages long, and eagerly reviewed every nuance. After providing CMS reams of input on what works in their localities, they got nothing — less than nothing, a pariah.

Last week, House Republicans launched their latest assault on what I have been calling a War on Women. The so-called “Protect Life Act,” which passed the House, would harm the lives of women in this country, particularly low-income women and women of color who have become central targets of this shameful agenda. 

For healthcare reform to work, it must give consumers control over their costs and over their coverage. Unfortunately, ObamaCare does just the opposite. It takes away patient choice and drives up the cost of healthcare. A new report from Kaiser says a typical employer-based health insurance premium has increased by 9 percent in just the past year, with that cost projected to double over the next decade. The government’s own actuary for Medicare and Medicaid says that in 2014, premiums will rise by 10 percent more than they would have without ObamaCare.

Healthcare costs are spiraling upward, and the country is not getting healthier for the money spent. Nearly half of all Americans have at least one chronic illness today, signaling more complications and higher costs tomorrow. We cannot spend our way out of this — we need a new approach.