Health care - Jim Burkee
Since I've been very critical of Jim Sensenbrenner's stand on single-payer health care (it's atrocious in case you haven't heard), I thought it fair to also discuss his challenger's, Jim Burkee.
Burkee is a pretty decent alternative to Sensenbrenner. You can see which of his positions on the issues you agree with HERE and at wwwJimBurkee.com/change. I highly recommend that you try to meet him at one of his events.
Jim Burkee is basically for a free-market type of health care system, and that's also what the insurance industry is pushing, so you know it has to be bad. Jim also embraces John Torinus' position and health savings accounts. John recommends them for his employees and if he has one himself he can well afford it, as they are often used for tax shelters for the rich. You may recall the article I wrote on free market healthcare last year:
Health care and the free market -- Politicians prefer "the free market" even though it is the free market that took over in 1994 that has gotten us into today's mess. They favor "privatization" because, they argue, it "adds competition and controls costs." That's pure hogwash. It does neither. Private insurers can give campaign contributions, public insurers can't.
The best thing Burkee could do to demonstrate that he truly believes in high-deductable HSAs is to get one for his family. I doubt he'll do that.
Following are Burkee's
web comments (in black) and my responses (in red).
Health care
There's probably no better example of where we need change than with our broken healthcare system.
Why aren't Washington's career politicians doing anything to address the skyrocketing cost of healthcare? Probably because over one-quarter of all congressmen have annual incomes of over a million dollars, benefit from the federal government's health plan, and can look forward to generous pensions.
No, it's because politicians are bought and paid for by the health care industry. Over $400 million per year in lobbying and campaign contributions, and they often have significant investments in the industry (as does Sensenbrenner).
The Burkee family knows what a pain it can be to plan for health care costs. They understand how those $25.00 co-pays add up and how the rising cost of health care impacts a paycheck.
A Medicare-for-all system also has 20% co-pays, which usually are far more than $25. And both are a problem. I'm sure Jim can afford the $25 but many people can't. Their option is to stay away from the doctor until they become very sick. Problem is, their disease can then be more costly to treat or even untreatable. My wife had a cold and refused to go to the doctor with it, thinking it would clear on its own. It turned into pneumonia and could have killed her. There are ways of cutting overutilization, but dollar penalties are not the way to do it.
Rising health care costs put at risk our national prosperity and threaten our children's future. What everyone in Washington knows, but few are willing to admit, is that the Medicare system will soon be broken. Washington politicians have immorally made promises that we can't keep by passing huge government programs that our nation's leading accountants say we can't afford.
Medicare will soon be broke, but only because George Bush wants it to be broke. That's why he signed the $780 billion giveaway to the pharmaceutical industry that prevents Medicare from negotiating lower costs. And Sensenbrenner voted for it. But he and Sensenbrenner protects private Medicare Advantage systems that costs taxpayers 17% more than public Medicare costs. What we need to do is lift the $104K cap on payroll deductions, thereby taxing those more at higher salaries and protecting Medicare for future generations.
Congressman Sensenbrenner cast a deciding vote in 2003 for Medicare Part D, which Comptroller General David Walker calls "probably the most fiscally irresponsible piece of legislation since the 1960s."
Walker was right that the 2003 law was irresponsible, but that does not mean that single-payer is bad. See Ten needed fixes for the health care system and Is Canadian health care right for Wisconsin?
$8.7 trillion -- that's over $60,000 for each American taxpayer -- for a program no one really likes and that we can't afford. Sensenbrenner thinks that bigger government is the solution to the health care problem--just another sign that he's out of touch with the people of the 5th District.
Sensenbrenner has a lot of faults, but wanting bigger government isn't one of them. He doesn't, except for the drug program of which his investments represent about $5 million.
Burkee is simply wrong that nobody likes Medicare, as the majority of Americans support Medicare-for-all. Jim is spending too much time with the Torinuses and Coburns of the world.
Jim believes that we can change our system for the better by taking several important steps.
Change health care by limiting frivolous lawsuits. Too many doctors add to the cost of health care by ordering unnecessary tests, and spend too much on insurance, to protect themselves from frivolous lawsuits.
Be careful here.
6) Medical Liability:
It's a problem, and though minor when compared to all else, representing less than 1% of all costs, it should still be fixed. Politicians should create a three-judge medical court rather than a 12 man jury with no medical expertise. Lawyers would have three strikes and then start paying defendant's legal fees when they bring frivolous cases. Punitive damages (if awarded) would go to the healthcare fund rather than to plaintiffs and attorneys that have already received fair damages.
Change health care by emphasizing prevention. The federal government does have a role in promoting awareness and preventive screenings for diabetes and various kinds of cancer.
This is overblown, but clearly eliminating smoking and obesity are critical, and wellness programs are clearly a positive contribution. But some genetic diseases can bankrupt families (like diabetes, cancer, stroke, heart problems, etc.)
Change health care by making it competitive. American consumers today are responsible for making choices regarding every product except one -- health care. We need to reconnect consumers with doctors so that individual patients have control over their own health care decisions. This is the best way to drive down health care costs.
There is no such thing as competition in health care, and if there was, few of us would take our kids to the lowest bidder. It would have the exact opposite effect that free-marketers project.
Jim Burkee supports market-based solutions to health care like the one recently proposed by Dr. Tom Coburn, the conservative Republican Senator from Oklahoma, which eliminates tax breaks for corporations and redirects them to patients to buy their own health care plans. Coburn's plan guarantees affordable health care access for all Americans, and it does it in a way that is market-based, not government-run.
Coburn's plan is pure garbage, even if it comes from a physician. He has lost touch with patients, and he has lost touch with average Americans. If you really want to learn about what physicians think, go to www.pnhp.org. Over 59% (and growing) of physicians support the Medicare-for-all system like that proposed by John Conyers (sorry, a Democrat). And several hundred nurse's unions are on board.
We all know that things have to change. Health care costs can't keep rising forever. Today's Congressmen haven't had the courage to fix today's problems. But Jim Burkee does.
Aside from Burkee's $25 co-pay, it's my guess that he also has a gold-plated plan. But he simply has it wrong on health care. People don't want "affordable" health insurance, because there is no such thing. They want single-payer health care, and the vast majority of the population supports higher taxes to get there. Burkee's is a minority position, and slanted by a Republican senator who happens to be a doctor. Burkee's position is also the Republican's position, and differs from Sensenbrenner's only when it comes to the Medicare Part D program.
Jack Lohman