Mark Shelton MD

The so-called public option is simply a step toward a single-payer federal government-controlled health plan.  Instead of creating effective insurance, health care will be rationed by the federal government, similar to the European and Canadian systems.  The cost of this scheme will be completely uncontrollable, requiring massive tax increases and will likely create an unstable US economy. 

The President and Congress should abandon this scheme and instead make revisions to the current Medicare program as well as the private sector.

Medicare should pay a market rate for physicians and hospitals which will provide seniors with control and choice in their health care.  This is the only way seniors will be able to access quality preventative care along with the specialty and hospital care of their choice.  Washington has acted shamefully on Medicare reform, but it is not too late for them to change their actions.

The government should implement real “health insurance reform” by encouraging patients to exercise more control over their own health care costs through better lifestyle choices.  Insurance companies need to be encouraged to provide portability of health plans for patients, and patients need to be in control of their family’s health plan. Health insurance expenses for families should be deductible from federal income tax payments, just as businesses deduct their expenses.

State, local and federal governments should work together to provide health care for those who truly cannot afford it. Resources need to be focused on primary care.  This is the only way patients will have a personal physician and control of their own health care which will prevent expensive and unnecessary emergency room visits.

There are many options to achieve these goals.  The Texas Legislature and the US Congress should carefully deliberate these issues and come up with practical and economically sound solutions. We can achieve better solutions for patients, but not under the administration’s current proposal.