Pass Real Healthcare Reform
Smallest Premiums Possible on Medicare.
The cost of quality healthcare for all is a very important issue and must be addressed now. Our GDP expenditures on healthcare have risen from five percent in the early sixties to about eighteen percent now. Premiums and out-of-pocket expenses on healthcare are unaffordable for many. We need to address this out-of-control cost issue at the national level without sacrificing choices, quality of care, and its wide accessibility. Unfortunately, this issue has become an idealist war that can only hurt our society. We can’t let that happen. America was built on choices and freedom for our people, not socialism! We must have the courage to implement common sense solutions that work for all. I believe that competition and sane regulations will bring costs down for all. Quality of care in the US is good, and with healthy competition and technology to help, we can achieve even better. I have compiled a list of very sensible paths that can lead us to very cost-effective and high-quality healthcare for all.
US healthcare GDP share has grown from around 5% ($27B) in the early sixties to over 18% ($3.7T) of the GDP currently – a 136x increase in total dollars spent on healthcare! In inflation-adjusted terms, it would be about 23x higher expenditures now than in 1960. We have roughly doubled in population since 1960, so in terms of expenditure per person, the expenditures on health would be 3x higher today than in 1960. What are the contributing factors to the increased cost of healthcare? And, what have policymakers done in the past many decades to remedy the situation?
Some major factors to consider are Technology, Coverage and intensity of use, demographics, and cost increases beyond average inflation.
Technology has been a significant factor in expenditure increases, including devices, diagnostic equipment, complex procedures, advanced drugs, etc. A CMS analysis says that roughly a quarter of the expenditure increase is due to technology factors. The benefit of technology in healthcare is about a 10-year higher life expectancy now. However, we need to pay attention to very high costs of newer technologies and procedures. Competition is the only way to create better prices and lower costs. We need to come up with creative ways to reduce costs of drug development, and not have the USA pay for most of the cost recovery. I will promote policies for healthy competition to reduce the cost of technology and advanced medicine in healthcare.
The inflation in the healthcare area has been about 1% higher than the average inflation in the US over the last sixty years. This means that over 60 years, the same thing is about 2x more than the average inflation-adjusted cost. This is an area for policymakers to examine to ensure that existing laws encourage competition to reduce prices for drugs, as well as services and procedures. I intend to focus heavily in this area.
Additionally, due to the shift in demographics in the last 60 years, where we have a lesser (36% vs. 21%) percentage of kids, and a larger (9% vs.17%) percentage of older people, the total healthcare expenditures have increased. We need to take care of our seniors, and I will support their health coverage with the smallest premiums possible on Medicare.
Lastly, another factor that has contributed to higher expenditures per person is the extent of health coverage and its use. The wider coverage and who pays for it becomes important in this context.
Before Medicare and Medicaid, which were instituted in 1966, 56% of the US healthcare expenditures were the responsibility of households/individuals, and 14% were contributed by the Private sector. The government paid about 23% of the healthcare expenditures. Today, the government pays about 45% of the total expenditures, households at 28%, and the private sector at 21%. The role of government has increased 100%, and the inflation-adjusted healthcare costs have increased by 100% in parallel. I intend to focus on this area and critically examine the arguments made by my socialist opponent, Ro Khanna, who claims that by going to a one-payer system – the government – costs will come down. This claim is highly exaggerated and with unrealistic assumptions.
My opponent, Ro Khanna, promised universal healthcare for years when he became congressman. Nothing happened. He quoted poorly studied cost saving studies, and the idea has not gone anywhere. He has NO idea how to pay for about $3T expenditure of “Medicare for all” outside of the premiums contributed by the private sector and individuals into the government-run system. And a lot of his stated assumptions on savings from Insurance industry profits are wrong, which made only $28B last year. Even if you add savings from the drug purchases, it would contribute another $20-$30B to the one-payer system. Even taxing the top 1% (anybody making $421K or higher) at a 100% rate will not pay for the “Medicare-for-all” proposal. It is just a pipe dream with zero understanding of the problem. Most people agree now that the incremental $3T per year cost of the “Medicare-for-all” system is not fundable. All it will do is increase costs, decline healthcare quality substantially, reduce health innovation, and take choices away from you.
People must have options in healthcare. We need a system that provides choices at very competitive prices.
I want to propose bills that would realize cost goals that will be sustainable. We must look at creating more competition through streamlining the distribution chain of medicines, increasing sources of supply of drugs and technology, and increasing the supply of trained health workers. We must change regulations that suffocate innovation, competition, and services. Specifically, I will pay immediate attention to the following:
• Change the law on Drug imports: Drugs sold by the same company abroad can be imported and sold here.
• Each drug must have 2-3 US suppliers. Licensing of patents to other companies to increase suppliers should be encouraged.
• The role of NIH and similar government institutions should include finding inexpensive alternatives to high-priced medicines and equipment to be licensed to the private sector.
• Medicare and Insurance companies must publish actual prices paid for procedures, hospital stays, and drugs for all the public to see. People can then negotiate on care costs, deductibles, and Insurance premiums.
• Encourage more insurance products, which allow simple procedures and ailments to be excluded from insurance. People can manage their own costs for simple procedures and ailments, and pay premiums only for serious procedures and hospitalization.
• Reduce the extraordinary length of medical doctor training. The US medical schools should admit students after 2 years of college, like elsewhere in the world. Publish the number of healthcare workers needed such that the public sector can increase such college seats.
• Give Tax incentives to encourage the opening of small clinics for administering primary care. It will create better care at competitive pricing, as it will reduce overhead hospital costs.
• Examine the rationale and efficacy of direct-to-consumer drug advertisements. The US and New Zealand are the only two countries that allow direct-to-consumer drug advertisements. We need to change the regulations, such that the consumer is protected on side effects, effectiveness of the drug, prices, and alternatives.
• Examine the rationale and safety of the current universal vaccine requirements for children. We need a renewed examination of the safety of certain vaccines, and assess their long-term risks. Families and children must be made aware of such risks and given the choice of taking or opting out of any vaccination requirements.
