Mr. Parker’s presentation would be more persuasive if only the “Affordable Health Care for America Act” actually had the potential to deliver quality healthcare to low-income Americans.
The best our leadership has been able to do so far is to simply add millions of low-income families to Medicaid.
And then to substantially reduce the reimbursement rates for both Medicaid and Medicare.
Both plans are being refused by an ever-increasing number of providers. Not much of a step forward.
Hard to accept the premise that people who are opposed to “The Affordable Health Care for America Act” simply want to deny healthcare for the poor.
More than likely, their objections are rooted in a well-founded belief that the government does not run things very well – especially big things. The Act itself is a classic example.
The stated goal was to provide healthcare to the uninsured and lower cost. More than 2,000 pages of legislation were produced. Tons of regulations will follow.
And when it is all finished, there will still be Americans without healthcare coverage. And the government will be in control of everything to include, price controls, healthcare rationing, and even contraception.
Why not start over with a blank sheet of paper? Start with a clear and simple definition of the problem to be solved, i.e., provide quality healthcare coverage to low-income Americans.
And then design a system that looks to the market place for solutions instead of the government bureaucracy.
In other words, focus on solving the problem at hand instead of trying to seize control of the entire system.
Don’t think this is an unreasonable suggestion from a Christian who would really like low-income Americans to have both affordable and quality healthcare.
Just don’t think the government can do it with the “Affordable Health Care for America Act” (what an incredible misnomer!).
The real risk with “The Affordable Health Care for America Act” is that it will take our nation even closer to bankruptcy without solving the basic problem. This is true in part because the act went far further afield than was necessary to deal with the basic issue.
History shows that the harder the government has tried to control parts of the healthcare system, the worse it has become.
Ed Strong
Peachtree City, Ga.
