An American Health Care Solution

Op-Ed

An American Health Care Solution

By U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers

Health care is one of the greatest challenges facing America today; and more than any other state, Michigan has faced the most difficult crisis: skyrocketing health costs coupled with rising unemployment. Today, high-quality affordable health coverage eludes too many families.

Fortunately, medical innovation is an American trademark. We are blessed with the world's leading health professionals and the most advanced medical technology. I am confident a truly American, bipartisan health care solution can bring down costs, increase access to coverage, and improve health outcomes for everyone.

My health care reform plan addresses four critical goals - costs, control, choices and cures.

Costs: Coverage of preventative services - like disease management programs - should be expanded to reduce the need for expensive treatments. Medicare and Medicaid improvements would include going after fraud that costs taxpayers billions every year.

Control: No one - not your insurance company, not the government, not your employer - should be making health decisions for you and your doctor. Federal laws should change to help families keep their health insurance regardless of a job change or job loss. Patients should also have easy access to information to compare insurance plans, evaluate provider quality, and calculate drug costs.

Choices: Small businesses should be allowed to band together to purchase health insurance for employees at more affordable prices, just as large corporations and unions do. Important safety-net programs - like Medicaid and SCHIP - should be strengthened by expanding premium assistance programs which give low-income families new insurance options.

Cures: There must be additional incentives for researchers to develop the next generation of cures, and to ensure that patients gain access to cutting-edge clinical trials.

In addition, there should be expanded assistance for those who can't afford health insurance - that 15 percent of Americans without coverage for some period of time every year. The cost of caring for the uninsured affects the cost of health care for everyone. In finding solutions to address the critical needs of the 15 percent, however, we must be careful to not destroy a system that works for the other 85 percent of Americans. We cannot force families onto a government-run plan or tax those who already have health insurance.

We also should expand funding for Community Health Centers, with a focus on cities and towns with high uninsured populations.

I have proposed new regulations on the insurance industry. Insurers would be required to allow students to remain on their parents' health policies up to the age of 25, reducing the uninsured by 7 million. My plan would expand funding for state programs that require insurers to cover everyone who applies, regardless of pre-existing conditions, so uninsured families with complex diseases can gain access to essential coverage.

All of these ideas can be accomplished without raising taxes, without piling up mountains of debt, and without putting the government in charge of our health care. By working together, Democrats and Republicans can find a bipartisan solution focused on costs, control, choices and cures that can dramatically improve health care in a way only America can achieve.

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