Congressman's Column by Adrian Smith

Health Care Debate Gets Heated In August, I - like many Members of Congress - made the most of my time to engage constituents in a debate about legislation directly impacting the future of our health care. I took the opportunity to ask folks attending my public meetings if they thought we should have finished the bill before the end of August. Even though we had people on both sides of the issue, not one on either side of the issue raised their hand. We need to work together, but more importantly, we need to take the time to get the bill right. What I heard back home is folks want us to take action here in Washington which will increase access to care, lower the cost of health insurance and lower the cost of health care in the long term. Just a few days ago, President Obama made a rare address to a joint session of Congress. I appreciated the President for once again laying out his thoughts on health care. However, for the most part he did not say anything we haven't heard before. The President missed a historic opportunity. The American people don't want us to launch a new government-run insurance plan which will lead to a government takeover of health care, paid for with $900 billion in higher taxes. What's more, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) Director Douglas Elmendorf confirmed H.R. 3200 would actually drive costs higher for American families and force patients onto a government-run plan. A separate study concluded this move could drive as many as 114 million Americans from their current employer-sponsored coverage. This bill would force providers to accept reimbursements equal to Medicare rates, which on average reimburse doctors 20 percent less than private plans, and hospitals as much as 30 percent less. The result would be unsustainable, forcing private plans to raise the cost of private coverage to absorb underpayments. Moreover, millions of seniors would lose health care choices due to billions of dollars in Medicare cuts, making it more difficult for seniors to obtain the coverage they need. The American people want our current health care system to work better. They don't want it replaced with a government-run plan. Nor do they support one party taking a go-it-alone approach. Why not let all Americans purchase health insurance across state lines? Why not bring about reasonable restrictions and limits on medical malpractice claims to end the era of defensive medicine? Congress must recognize the need to lower health care costs and both sides must be ready, willing and able to work with colleagues throughout the political spectrum to solve our health care challenges in a bipartisan manner. It is understandable this issue has raised emotions, even causing outbursts from small constituent meetings all the way to the House floor. I say this with firsthand knowledge. Lawmakers should pursue ideas which hold to traditional American principles and offer real results. We should be working to empower states to experiment with their own reforms; to allow Americans to purchase health insurance across state lines; and implement tax reforms which would allow individuals to purchase the coverage best suited for them and their families. When I was in Nebraska, people told me Congress should take its time and work to develop a bill which will lower the cost of health care without spending $900 billion more of taxpayer dollars. We have the opportunity to make the American people proud. We should make the most of it.