Not enough reform in Health Care

The House of Representatives last week passed H.R. 3962, the health care reform bill that would make substantial changes to our health care system. While I fervently believe that our health care system needs to be fixed, I didn’t think that H.R. 3962 was the right solution and therefore voted against it.
I support many of the provisions in the bill, including its promise to expand health care insurance coverage to more Americans. I also agree that Congress should require health insurance companies to provide coverage for individuals with pre-existing conditions, and prohibit them from dropping coverage when insured individuals become sick. I cosponsored a bill that repeals an antitrust loophole that allows insurance companies to artificially drive up the price of coverage, a provision that ended up in the health care legislation.
But I could not in good conscience vote for a bill that costs $1.055 trillion and fails to include sufficient cost-containment and deficit reduction measures. This bill will not reduce the federal government’s spending on health care over the long term, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The bill also does little to slow down the rapid increases in health care insurance premiums facing both U.S. families and businesses.
Additionally, this legislation fails to control the inefficiencies in health care that could be used to create substantial savings to drive down the bill’s overall cost. Our health care system is laden with waste, fraud and abuse, and this bill has not remedied those problems. We need reform that rewards quality outcomes and moves us away from the fee-for-service system that creates incentives to increase the quantity of service. We need reform that rewards healthy lifestyles to prevent excessive procedures and increased spending. Adding millions of people into an already broken system is not an acceptable solution.
With unemployment topping 10 percent nationwide – and higher in parts of Western North Carolina – now is not the time to raise federal taxes by hundreds of billions of dollars and impose new and costly mandates on state governments and businesses. Congress should be focused on our economy and creating jobs in these challenging times, not growing the size of the federal government with new mandates. We must stop the out-of-control spending in Washington and begin reducing our skyrocketing national debt. The path we are on is unsustainable. If health care reform does not bend the overall cost curve, we are simply passing higher costs to our children and grandchildren.
Over the past few months, I have spoken with hundreds of constituents and received thousands of calls, letters and emails about health care reform. I thank everyone in Western North Carolina who so willingly shared their stories and concerns with me. It is clear to me that we, as a country, are failing to provide enough Americans with affordable options to manage their health care, prevent illness and treat existing conditions.
Unlike some of my colleagues, I pledge to continue to work to improve this legislation rather than to act as a roadblock to prevent any meaningful reform. I am convinced that passing health care reform is a moral obligation and a fiscal necessity. Last week’s vote is only a first step in a lengthy legislative process, and the Senate likely will pass legislation that is far different from the House bill. I am optimistic that we will craft a solution that will lower health care costs for working families and small businesses. America needs meaningful health care reform that gives our country affordable, accessible, and sustainable health care.
Representative Heath Shuler