Op Ed: Marin Voice: Health Bill Must Bring Real Reform

Op-Ed

Op Ed: Marin Voice: Health bill must bring real reform

AT LEAST 46 million Americans are now uninsured, 7,700,000 in California.

By the end of the day, 14,000 more Americans will lose their coverage, more than 2,000 of them in California.

Even those with health insurance are struggling to meet its skyrocketing costs. Health care expenses for the average family of four are projected to jump $1,800 yearly. The average family premium in California will rise from $13,280 to $22,660 by 2019 without health-care reform.

The insurance companies have had decades to provide the comprehensive and affordable coverage Americans need.

They have shown they cannot or will not do so.

Congress must act now with reform legislation that provides competition to the insurance companies with a robust public plan that guarantees that everyone has access to high-quality care, regardless of income, employment, or pre-existing conditions. It must also bring down the cost of care to make health insurance affordable for everyone.

Like most Californians, I believe that the best way to provide high-quality, affordable health care to everyone while bringing down costs is to create a single-payer health insurance system. I have joined with a majority of progressives, however, to support a robust public option linked to Medicare.

Such a public plan would be one insurance option, alongside private health insurance companies. The public plan would compete with the private health companies to get people to enroll.

It would be
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national, without co-ops or local plans that dilute the power of the public option to deliver lower-cost, higher-quality care.

The public plan should be based on the current Medicare provider network, infrastructure, and rates set by the Administration. This would allow it to start without having to build a provider network, infrastructure, or negotiate rates. It would save $75 billion in start-up costs.

Most importantly, a public plan based on Medicare would provide competition that is lacking in the insurance markets. A recent Urban Institute study found that concentration in the insurance and hospital industries has created markets that "by and large are simply not competitive."

A robust public plan would supply this competition, forcing insurers to increase efficiency and control costs.

Genuine health care reform like this would have a dramatic effect on residents of Marin and Sonoma counties in the 6th Congressional District.

Some 70,000 uninsured individuals in the 6th District could gain access to high-quality, affordable health insurance under the House bill. As many as 19,100 small businesses here could also receive tax credits to provide coverage to their employees.

In 2008, health-care providers in this district alone provided $81 million in uncompensated care, care that was provided to individuals who lacked insurance coverage and were unable to pay their bills. These costs would be virtually eliminated with meaningful health-care reform.

The House leadership is now melding three different bills into final legislation. Two of those bills call for a robust public plan.

Along with most of my colleagues in the 83-member Congressional Progressive Caucus, which I co-chair with Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, I'm expecting that the final legislation will retain a robust public option linked to Medicare.

If it does not, it will not be meaningful health-care reform.

If it does not, it will not get my vote.

Lynn Woolsey of Petaluma has represented Marin in the House of Representatives since 1993. She is a Democrat.

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