Column: Guest Column, by Mike Benson

For at least until the next election when Americans can speak through the ballot box, most of the debate in Washington will focus on President Barack Obama’s signature legislation, the Affordable Care Act.

The ACA is arguably the most complex and far-reaching piece of legislation in decades and the only to be passed strictly on party lines. Both the Social Security Act and the Civil Rights laws were passed with bipartisan support. This lack of support from at least some of the minority party should have been telling from the very beginning.

The debate will center on President Obama’s failed promises for Americans to be able to keep their current insurance plans and doctors, and the fact that for the vast majority of Americans the Affordable Care Act is not affordable.

Evidence from the few who have been successful in navigating the nightmarish government website process shows premiums rising 50 percent or more and deductibles increasing by more than 20 percent. Some have reported that even with government subsidies the cost is greater.

To address concerns from members of his own party over the millions not being allowed to keep their current plan, the president moved to allow people to keep their plan for another year. This has been met with opposition on a number of fronts.

In a Nov. 14 letter, the American Academy of Actuaries wrote the president and strongly conveyed that this move would only make it more expensive for Americans that remain in the plan. It should be pointed out that even if a person is able to keep their plan now it’s only a temporary reprieve as they will be forced to go through the process again by the end of next year.

Small businesses across America are being forced to reconsider even providing health care insurance to their employees. It is almost certain that they will be passing on the enormous new costs to employees and reducing many from full time to less than 30 hours per week.

It is no surprise that with all the new administrative expenditures — as a result of government becoming the new middleman in health care — that costs would have to rise.

Approximately 159 new federal bureaucracies have been added with thousands of new government employees that micromanage the doctor-patient relationship, adding billions to the cost of health care financing.

In Minnesota, where we had some of the best medical/health care outcomes in the world and the highest enrollment in the nation, we spent $160 million and added 150 new employees at the state level to manage a website enrollment process. Hundreds more will be added locally across the state to act as navigators. These state overhead costs alone will add another 3 percent.

As more is revealed about the negative impact the ACA is having on our families and the cost and quality of health care, my hope is that more people will demand that the president and his party fall back from their rigid position.

So far Congressman Tim Walz and his Democratic colleagues from Minnesota have voted with their party and the president to press ahead without any evidence that it will accomplish what it was intended to do.

Only after 41 opportunities to repeal the law and start over did Congressman Walz and two other Minnesota Democratic congressmen take a politically expedient vote to allow people to keep their current plans, but we know that President Obama has no intention of signing the bill.

Yes, there is a lot more we can do to make health care more affordable and guarantee that people with pre-existing conditions have access. In a true bipartisan effort, free market solutions can be found.

Start by making individual health insurance and out-of-pocket medical expenses tax deductible, similar to the tax advantages that group insurance currently enjoys. This would encourage health savings accounts and health insurance portability and avoid having to re-qualify for health insurance. We also need to make sure people with pre-existing conditions have access.

Remove the penalties that discourage out-of-state health insurance companies from expanding across Minnesota state lines, similar to auto insurance.

Implement medical malpractice tort (litigation) reform. The Pacific Research Institute has documented how the threat of lawsuits fuels medical inflation.

Together we can create a health care delivery system that is affordable and provides for the best outcomes.

 

Mike Benson, R-Rochester, is a candidate for 1st District congressman.