Op-Ed - Like Your Health Plan? You May Not be Able to Keep It

Op-Ed

Published in the Oakland Press on June 26, 2010

If you are one of the more than 160 million Americans who get health care coverage through your employer, and if you like your health plan and want to keep it, you should be able to do that. Unfortunately, that may not be possible if health care changes under consideration in Washington D.C. take effect.

Congress is considering proposals to "fix" health care for the 15 percent of Americans who do not have health coverage at some time during the year. The leading proposal, based on a government-run plan, puts at risk the health care benefits of 85 percent of Americans who already have coverage.

I agree with President Obama's statements in recent weeks that if Americans like their health plan, they ought to be able to keep it. Unfortunately, in recent days he has begun to back off those comments and his staff warns that the President's statements ought not be taken literally. That is disturbing.

Countless families in Michigan receive their health care plans from employers, large and small. Many families are happy with the plans they have -- they might not be perfect, but they can see the doctor they want, get prescription drugs, and be covered in the case of a severe illness.

The goal of health care reform should be finding solutions for the 15 percent who are uninsured, not dismantling a system that already serves the majority of Americans.

An independent study by the non-partisan Lewin Group estimates that as many as 130 million Americans could lose their current health coverage if Congress adopts a government-run plan. Americans deserve to know the details of the 852-page bill written behind closed door in Congress.

First, there's a government-run plan, based on Medicare rates, to "compete" with existing private plans. The problem? Medicare's current pay rate to doctors is 30 percent below what it costs doctors to provide health care. This difference is made up by people who have private plans today. Private plans pay above costs, Medicare pays far below costs. This is not competition -- it is a recipe for huge funding shortfalls, rationing of care, and even more doctors opting out.

If you were an employer, would you continue offering health benefits if you knew your employees could get a government plan for 30 percent less? Millions of families would quickly lose their employer coverage and be forced onto a government plan with no guarantee they could see the doctor they choose or receive the same benefits their private plan offers.

Because the proposed health reform bill would cost about $2 trillion, additional revenue would be necessary. The latest "revenue" idea: a $246-billion tax increase on employer-provided benefits in the worst economy since the Great Depression!

Today, any money your employer contributes to your health benefits is tax-free, providing an incentive to carry employee health coverage. This system has worked for employers, employees, and their families for decades. A new health care tax increase would be another reason to stop offering health benefits altogether.

The topper is another proposal mandating that employers contribute to employees' health care or face stiff penalties. Mandating employer-paid insurance will reduce workers' wages, shrink health insurance options, and result in more layoffs. Worse, because the government will decide what benefits employers must offer, many basic plans, like health savings accounts, may no longer be available.

A National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) study estimates that as many as 1.6 million jobs could disappear because of this new mandate.

Like President Obama, I am convinced we must tackle the problems in our health care system. The difference is this: I believe we need to make health insurance more portable between jobs and affordable in any situation. Every American, including those with pre-existing conditions, should have more choices and assurances of health care access. More government control, higher taxes, and new employer mandates won't make that happen.

Perhaps Congress needs to apply the physicians' creed to first do no harm. You can't heal an ailing health care system by first putting it to death.

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