The votes are in and H.R. 3590, known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act, was approved by the House on March 21 by a narrow party-line vote of 219 to 212. A total of 34 Democrats joined all 178 Republicans in opposing the bill. The vote signaled approval of a 2,409-page bill passed by the Senate on Christmas Eve 2009. President Obama has signed the bill into law; a package of revisions adopted by the House now goes to the Senate for action. Still, the subject of health care reform prompts enormous concern and ongoing debate. Estimated to cost $938 billion, the cost for the new bill will be shared by the states, nearly all of which are battling their own financial woes, and American taxpayers still struggling to overcome effects of the recession. Equally concerning is the reality that cost overruns are often the case when it comes to programs managed by the federal government, as explained here by Veronique de Rugy, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. More specific to health care is this article, “Health Costs and History,” from the Wall Street Journal. The bill extends health insurance by 2019 to 32 million Americans currently without insurance. It also mandates that nearly every American carry health insurance. For a look at some of the immediate effects of health care reform, here is a good summary from Kaiser Health News. KHN also provides this piece summarizing frequently asked questions about the reform and what it might mean to you. And here is an interactive graphic from the New York Times titled, “How the Health Care Overhaul Could Affect You.” The Wall Street Journal also offers this year-to-year summary of “What’s in the Bill.” The principled, market-based answer is no. Can patient care be delivered more effectively? Can current insurance systems be improved? Are there more cost-effective options or ways to reform the system? The principled, market-based answer is yes. Every health care system in the world has room for improvement. The recently passed legislation has laudable goals, such as bringing health care to those without it. However, we believe that expanding government’s already intrusive role in health care is exactly the wrong means to achieve these ends.
Health care reform
Our Point of View
Koch Industries' point of view regarding health care has nothing to do with political parties and everything to do with our fundamental principles. As a matter of principle, should government mandate prices and control access to doctors and hospitals? Is government an efficient health-care administrator? What's more, is it morally right to run up billions of dollars in unfunded liabilities by promising entitlements for everyone?
