Quality health care is vital to every man, woman, and child in this country.  Any changes to our delivery system need to be thoroughly discussed.  Time should be taken to hear concerns, discuss ideas, and come up with workable solutions.

I have enjoyed meeting the people of the 4th Congressional District over this past month during Town Hall Forums we have hosted on the topic of Health Care.  Last night we were in Lamar, Missouri.  I enjoyed visiting with the people of that area and hearing their ideas for what is, and isn’t working with our present system.  I look forward to visiting with more of you as the weeks unfold at future town hall forums.

Last night the President promoted his ideas for health care reform before a live audience during a joint address to Congress.  Many of his goals are laudable; however, I question the details.  It just doesn’t add up financially.  While it sounds good that everyone will have coverage for everything including unlimited free preventative care and checkups, minimal out-of-pocket expenses, and more coverage for the uninsured, there’s no way to pay for it without going further in debt as a nation.

The people in my area grew up with the saying, “If it sounds too good to be true; it probably is”.  I think this statement definitely applies to the President’s plan.

President Obama claims his bill will not create a deficit and that additional costs will occur through savings in the system.  It’s a nice thought; but not reality.

In addition, he claimed to address ‘mistruths’ being told about HB3200.  Namely, he said no federal tax dollars would be spent for abortions and only 5% of people would sign up for a public health care option.  I disagree.

Proponents of the bill repeatedly rejected amendments that would have ensured that no tax dollars would be spent on abortion.  The Hyde Amendment does not cover the new funding streams that would be established for health care for this bill.  Most Americans do not want their tax dollars going toward abortions and it should be clearly prohibited in this bill, as well.

In addition, the nonpartisan Lewin Group has stated that 88.1 of the current 158.1 million people currently with employer-provided insurance would either lose their coverage or shift to the public plan if HB 3200 passes.  That’s far more than President Obama’s 5% claim.

What we need is more competition–more choices in health care–and lower costs.  This can be achieved by allowing competition across state lines, allowing organizations to pool together to offer health care insurance to their members, and by promoting health savings accounts where consumers retain the control of how their health care dollars are spent.

We need to reduce the overuse of defensive medicine by embracing tort reform nationwide, promoting healthy lifestyles, and providing incentives for companies to ensure more people.  We need transparency of costs and expedited processes for developing new drugs and medical technologies by reforming the FDA to shorten the timeline for new treatments and cures while reducing costs.

All of these ideas can be implemented without expanding government’s involvement in the health care system.

Do inadequacies exist that need to be addressed? Yes.  Do changes need to be made?  Absolutely.  Do we need President Obama and Nancy Pelosi’s plan to do it?  No.  Let’s forge ahead with common sense ideas to address the concerns without jeopardizing our current system so more Americans can access quality, affordable health care.  I look forward to hearing your ideas on how we can improve health care services for our families in future town hall forums.  Together, we can develop solutions that work and don’t bankrupt our country while doing it.