Gary Eiler: Ryan’s headed in exactly wrong direction on health care

[Robbie88]

Source: The Cap Times

U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan’s recent op-ed column in the New York Times warrants a vigorous response. His notion that the Democratic health care reform program is all about expanding government rather than controlling costs and that rising costs can best be addressed by more competition are not supported by the current reality.

Ryan says that “a fundamental driver of health inflation is the regressive tax preference for employer-based health insurance,” which he says promotes “expensive plans while providing no support for the unemployed, the self-employed or those who don’t get coverage from their employer.”

The reality is there are far greater drivers of health care costs than this one structural flaw. Much more concerning are unhealthy lifestyles, a disproportionate use of health dollars by people with chronic conditions, lack of access to the health system, excessive and duplicative use of new technology, the prevalence of fee-for-service systems, and lack of primary care physicians in some regions and an excess of specialists in other regions. In addition to providing support for people not covered through employers, the Democratic health reform plan addresses these more important cost drivers.

Ryan says that he “helped write a plan that would replace the bias in the tax code with universal tax credits so that all Americans have the resources to purchase portable, affordable coverage that best suits their needs.”

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