In today’s Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dan Stultz, President and CEO of the Texas Hospital Association, writes about some of the solutions his organization has in mind for Texas’ health care market in the upcoming session. He recommends:
– Increasing access and affordability through state-funded premium subsidies or reinsurance;- Tax incentives for small employers who offer health insurance;- Adequately funding provider rates; and- Refining enrollment efforts for the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
While increasing access and affordability are goals that everyone would promote, the problem with these proposals is that they all call for increased government involvement. Whether it is having the government undermine the very nature of the insurance business or having them pick winners and losers through favorable taxing mechanisms or increasing state funding for government programs the role for government continues to grow.
The truth is that government intervention has gotten us into this mess and limiting its intervention in the health care industry is the only way to turn the tide.
– Kalese Hammonds