Four paradoxes of health care reform: Conservatives can take moral and political high ground

Polls show that Americans trust Democrats more than Republicans on any other issue. But they also show that conservative healthcare solutions are popular, including price transparency, greater choice, and competition for lower prices.

This dynamic suggests that among the center-right healthcare reform community, if we talk more about market-, state-, and local-based policies to make health care and coverage more affordable, Americans will trust conservatives. It is connected to the conventional wisdom that

I agree that conservatives shouldn’t shy away from discussing healthcare, but polls conducted by both groups this summer backfired on messages that were too focused on market fundamentalism and money saving. It suggests that

First, while Americans support certain free-market healthcare reform proposals, talking about healthcare as if it were a typical commercial market alienates voters. , because healthcare is a matter of life or death. Too risky for people to accept normal market dynamics.

Health care is first a moral issue and secondly an economic issue.What Conservatives Should Do

For example, in healthcare, the concept of “luxury” is almost non-existent. As new, more effective treatments emerge, they quickly become the standard of care. The idea that wealthy Americans receive better quality care than middle class or poor people is anathema to what Americans want from their health care system.

Second, Americans already think health insurance is too complicated, and the basic trade-offs required when choosing a plan are paying higher premiums or exposing yourself to more financial risk. I feel compelled to gamble for my health and that of my family. .

Ultimately, what Americans look for in health insurance is peace of mind. The idea of ​​more options and customization of health insurance adds stress and confusion when described purely in terms of saving money rather than ensuring everyone gets the care they need. Not only that, it could be seen as exacerbating inequalities in health care.

Third, the desire for peace of mind in health care has led most Americans in our survey to believe that laws and regulations are set at the national level to provide consistency and standards across the country. It helps explain why you said you would prefer to.

Fourth, while Americans give our health care system poor marks on most scales (with the exception of quality of care), they rate individual care and coverage highly. As a result, there is little support for rapid, large-scale health care reform.

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden at a health care bill ceremony in the East Room of the White House on March 23, 2010.
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

So what should conservatives do? The answer is not to abandon our principles, but to embrace the left-wing big-government socialist approach to health care.

Instead, conservatives must embrace the goal of ensuring affordable, high-quality health care for all Americans, regardless of income, and using market forces to achieve it. there is.

Fortunately, much of our agenda can be favorably described in these terms. For example, ObamaCare and Medicaid plans are notorious for long wait times for appointments, a narrow network of providers, and often an inability to find the best doctors.Looseness Obamacare’s onerous compensation provisions Specialize plans and partner with Centers for Excellence to ensure more Americans are covered with the quality care they need. By making room for the association’s health plans, cost sharing, and direct contract options, more Americans will be able to access affordable, high-quality care.

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The same applies to reforming the Certificate of Needs Act, which limits the number of health care providers within a community. We conservatives tend to talk about reforming these laws to increase competition and lower prices. It must also be emphasized that it is the poorest Americans who suffer the most due to the scarcity of health care providers, and that reform will help more people get care.

Conservatives can address Americans’ desire for consistency and standards in health care with clear national quality standards, but allow state and local governments to interpret and enforce one size fits all. You can avoid matching all rules with . Section 1332’s waiver of innovation and the respect the Trump administration has given states in her response to COVID-19 provide a possible model.

Conservatives also need to adopt a strategy adopted by the America First Policy Institute: “radical gradualism.” This is a small but significant change that will lead to big changes over time.

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Price transparency in healthcare is a good example. This is a matter of over 90% favourability, and could dramatically change the complicated third-party payment system that drives up costs and disrupts all intermediaries. It will be done organically and over time, not through the design of the

The big government approach to health care is riddled with failures that increase health inequalities and lead to further confusion and frustration. Conservative healthcare solutions that put patients and doctors back together are the means to solve the chaos created by big governments. We conservatives secure the moral and political primacy of health care by emphasizing that our solutions not only save money, but more importantly, save lives. The time has come.

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Bobby Jindal was Governor of Louisiana from 2008 to 2016 and a candidate for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. He chairs the Center for Healthy America at the America First Policy Institute.