Rather than relying on states to expand health care coverage through pilot programs, the federal government should work to fix the Medicare system, former HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson said at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on May 6, 2008.
“The federal government has got to deal with it,” he told the senators, adding that “Medicare absolutely has to be looked at and it’s got to be overhauled.” Lawmakers should work together. “Forget about partisanship and come up with a nonpartisan solution,” he urged.
Committee members’ reactions. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said Congress needs bipartisanship to get to universal coverage. “We need to do something and more than incremental,” he noted.
Senate Finance Committee ranking member Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), however, cautioned against expanding government beyond its reach. “Health reforms should not up-end the system and do harm while trying to help the folks without insurance,” he said, adding that “we need to be prudent in taking on new obligations for the federal government.”
Building on the private health insurance system “makes the most sense,” Grassley said. People are used to their employers providing health benefits and they like that employers find a plan, take care of the billing, and take premiums out of their paychecks. “By and large they are satisfied with their health plans,” he explained.
Grassley suggested making the current unlimited income tax exclusion for employer-provided health insurance more equitable, while increasing the tax benefits for taxpayers purchasing nongroup insurance. “We need to look at the tax system and determine whether we can make changes there that would enable more people to buy insurance,” he said.
Former Secretaries weigh-in. Thompson suggested formation of a bipartisan commission charged by Congress and the next president to recommend solutions. Noting the obesity epidemic, he also called for action to make prevention a centerpiece of America’s health care system, beginning with Medicare and Medicaid.
Another former HHS Secretary, Donna Shalala, said that the time has come for universal health care. According to Shalala, “[o]nly with the successful implementation of a universal health care strategy will the United States have the potential to extend quality coverage to the millions of Americans currently uninsured and the opportunity to save billions of dollars in the process.”
CCH Washington Bureau, May 6, 2008.
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