Nearly everyone agrees that our nation’s health care system is in need of reforms that will increase access for the uninsured and reduce costs for everyone. But, there is a great deal of disagreement about how to get there. 

 

Democrats in Washington, D.C. favor a government-run health care model which will make Americans dependent on the federal government for the provision of these most vital and personal services. Their plan of mandates and higher taxes targets Americans at the most vulnerable moment of their lives and forces them to rely on the government.

 

Congressional Republicans, on the other hand, have taken a more reasoned approach to health care reform. Instead of assuming that Washington has all the answers, they understand that state governments have a better understanding of the problems facing their health care systems. They have offered a plan that would exempt states from the mandates and higher taxes that a federal plan would impose if the state can demonstrate that it has taken steps to increase access to care and lower costs.

 

Here in Pennsylvania, the House Republican Caucus has developed a plan that would do just that. Earlier this year, as chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee, I created a number of task forces to examine key issues facing Pennsylvania and create an action plan to control state spending, rebuild the state’s economy and encourage real economic growth. Because many of the increases in government spending are driven by rising health care costs, I asked the task force on health care to craft a package of legislation designed to reform our health care system to lower costs and expand access for the uninsured.

 

The task force held a number of hearings and developed a package of proposals aimed at accomplishing those objectives. Unlike the so-called single-payer models we have seen from Democrats in Harrisburg and Washington, which would allow for a government takeover of our health care system, our plan relies on the principle of free market competition to lower health care costs.

 

Instead of imposing a mandate forcing employers to provide health insurance, the House Republican plan would provide a $1,000 per employee tax credit to small business owners who provide health insurance to their employees. Our plan also seeks to reduce Pennsylvania’s uninsured rate by providing an affordable, low-cost insurance product. In addition, we would expand access to Pennsylvania’s adultBasic program by establishing a sliding scale premium based on income, and invest in the expansion of Federally Qualified Health Centers and other community health centers to increase access to primary and prenatal care.

 

Costs would be kept low by re-enacting the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council and requiring the council to publish the medical charges and reimbursement rates for Medicaid, CHIP, and adultBasic, thereby maintaining competitiveness in the marketplace and allowing consumers to make informed decision about their health care.

 

Many of the increases in health care costs are the result of malpractice suits and their impact on the insurance premiums doctors must pay. Our plan would reduce the medical errors which lead to these lawsuits by offering incentives to Pennsylvania health care facilities that use an electronic prescribing system and by using federal stimulus funds to provide grants to computerize medical records.

 

House Republicans still cherish the ideals of freedom, personal responsibility and limited government, and we have crafted our health reform with those ideals in mind. It is my hope that any federal health care legislation will recognize that states can craft innovative, effective solutions to our health care problems without intervention from Washington.

 

Rep. Stanley Saylor
94th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
(717) 244-9232
(717) 783-6426

www.RepSaylor.com
Contact: Sean L. Yeakle

House Republican Public Relations
(717) 787-3406