Congressman Geoff Davis : Serving Kentucky's Fourth District

Since House Democrats released their health reform legislation (H.R. 3200), Members of Congress and Americans alike have been reviewing the 1018 pages of complex legalese to determine whether this bill is the right prescription for working families and small businesses.  Analysis has revealed a complicated web of new government bureaucracy and red tape that will dramatically impact health care coverage for every American. 

H.R. 3200 undeniably increases government involvement in American health care.  The bill creates over fifty new federal programs, agencies, and commissions that will expand the government’s role in health care decision-making by families and doctors.  See the list of new agencies and programs here.  Representative Kevin Brady (R-TX) and policy experts at the Joint Economic Committee developed a chart to illustrate the maze of new regulations and government involvement created by H.R. 3200.  You can view the chart by clicking here. 

Experts predict that the bureaucracy established by H.R. 3200 would inevitably force private insurers out of business, putting the U.S. on a path to a single-payer, government-run health care system.  When all the other choices are eliminated, there is no competition and federal government would have control over your health care.  The non-partisan Lewin Group projects that the government-run plan would result in as many as 114 million Americans losing their current health insurance coverage, including 106 million Americans who currently have employer-provided health care.

One of the central components of H.R. 3200 is a federal “Health Insurance Exchange.”  Providing more information for Americans to comparison shop and make informed decisions is a good idea.  However, the Exchange is much more than a “plan finder.”  To be listed in the Exchange, a plan would first have to meet a slew of benefit mandates set by the “Health Benefits Advisory Committee.”  Even if a plan satisfies those benefit mandates, they must still meet additional standards determined by the Commissioner of the Exchange.  The Commissioner, who reports only to the President, is given near unilateral authority over the Exchange by H.R. 3200. 

The “Health Benefits Advisory Committee” created by H.R. 3200 would set the minimum coverage standards (or benefit mandates) for every health insurance plan, including “categories of covered treatments, items and services within benefit classes and cost sharing” (Page 30, Section 123 of H.R. 3200).  As we saw in Kentucky with the Kentucky Health Care Reform Act of 1994 (HB 250), increased mandates rarely lead to lower costs or more options.  Health Savings Accounts, Flexible Spending Accounts, catastrophic plans, and other types of cafeteria plans that many Americans choose for their health coverage will most likely be deemed inadequate coverage by the Committee.  In fact, Democrats opposed a specific amendment to protect such plans.  Any American who does not have creditable coverage, as determined by the government, by 2013 would be assessed a 2.5% tax annually.

In order to successfully improve health care for the American people, we need to craft true reform legislation that will simplify the private-market system and make it more affordable, not complicate it with government bureaucracy.  House Republicans have proposed a commonsense plan that would address these issues through reform of the way insurance companies operate; tax incentives for individuals who purchase insurance; eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse; comprehensive medical liability reform; and a focus on prevention and wellness.  You can read more about the Republican plan and follow the health care reform debate by visiting my Health Care Issue page.