Deseret News - Putting Utahns In Control Of Their Health Care

Op-Ed

By Chris Stewart

In a recent opinion article, my Democratic political opponent shared her vision as "one where Utahns are able to strike out and start new businesses because they aren't worried about lacking health insurance. A future where small business owners aren't burdened by ever-increasing costs of insuring their employees and are allowed to focus on innovation and growth."

I could not agree more. We need to make health insurance more available and affordable to small businesses.

The problem is, under Obamacare, the exact opposite has happened, which is why I have voted many times to repeal this disastrous law that has hurt so many hardworking Utah families.

Just this year, the average premium for a silver plan in the ACA exchange increased by 32 percent nationwide. In prior years, we saw rate hikes of 30 percent, 40 percent, even 70 percent in some states. This isn't affordable or sustainable. And it certainly isn't encouraging innovation and growth. This is hurting thousands of Utah families and businesses.

And those aren't the only negative results of Obamacare. Over the past few years, I have talked to hundreds of Utahns who have lost their jobs, had their hours cut back or lost medical insurance altogether as a result of this deeply flawed law.

And I haven't come to this conclusion just from conversations with my constituents. I can speak of this problem from my personal business experience as well.

Prior to coming to Congress, I was a small-business owner. I know the responsibility one feels to provide proper health care for one's employees. I know the associated financial burden that comes with providing this insurance. I know what it's like to lie awake at night and wonder, "how are we going to pay for this?" Because of this experience, I know what businesses really need is affordability, flexibility and choice, not a one-size-fits-all model.

For those who argue for more intrusion of the federal government in our health care choices, I would ask: What evidence does the last eight years of Obamacare provide to make anyone believe that more government control is the answer? Why should we believe that more federal interference and mandates will do anything but drive up cost and public resentment while killing jobs and reducing choices?

Yet many Democrats, seeing the obvious failure of their signature health care law, are now crying that "Medicare-for-all" is the only answer. By doubling down, they are essentially saying, "OK, we messed this up really bad. But give us a lot more power, another $5 trillion and 20 more years and this time we'll really fix it!" Surely the past eight years of Obamacare have taught us that "Medicare-for-all" is not the answer.

Based on current costs, extending Medicare to everyone would cost approximately $3.6 trillion a year. This financial burden alone would guarantee the total destruction of Medicare, the essential program that both of my parents relied upon in their senior years. "Medicare-for-all" will lead to "Medicare-for-none," and we simply cannot allow that to happen.

But neither do we have to settle for the way things are now. There is a better way.

Health savings accounts (HSA) are one way to allow Utahns to have control over their health care decisions. These accounts permit an individual to save tax-free money to be used toward individual or family health care costs. As an added benefit, any unspent HSA contributions essentially become a retirement account for the employees. But the rules governing HSAs need to be reformed and improved. Regulations that restrict access to these types of accounts need to be eliminated. The cap on contributions also needs to be increased and the list of allowable health care expenditures expanded.

Just last week, the administration released a new rule allowing small businesses to band together and establish association health plans. I strongly support this. Pooling allows these small businesses to increase their purchasing power and negotiate lower prices from insurers for their families and employees while freeing business owners from expensive state-mandated benefit packages. But it's also important that these new pools not be allowed to "cherry pick" only healthy participants. Instead, the goal should be to improve access and reduce costs for all individuals and families -- not just the healthy.

What Utah needs is less bureaucracy in health care, not more. Choice and competition will result in lower costs where price controls have failed. Ultimately, Utahns -- not the federal government -- need to be in the driver's seat.

Source