Recent polling from TPPF shows the frustration caused by rising costs and harm our healthcare system and insurance systems have created. Only 42% of Texans are satisfied with the value of their health insurance plan, more than two-thirds consider healthcare costs a burden, and 3 out of 4 agree drug prices are too high. Further, 64% of respondents reported not picking up a medication because of cost for themselves or family member, 60% report insurance denied a medication, and 55% report insurance limited the healthcare for themselves or a family member.
This polling data illustrates why people are flirting with government control over medicine. Those in power get the blame, and Congress is not solving the rising costs. Now, many voters are willing to try almost anything different from the status quo if elected officials won’t act. With the seeming internal take-over of the Democratic Party by the Democratic Socialists of America, the promises of quick fixes by punishing the rich corporations are enticing, with easy catch phrases like “Medicare-for-All.”
“Medicare-for-All” is nonetheless a promise politicians cannot keep. Medicare itself is managed by the same corporations that are driving healthcare costs. Costs would continue to rise and, eventually, government-run healthcare would either raise taxes or ration medical care. Or, as in the case of Canada and the UK, they do both. In Canada, medical assisted suicide is now considered a fiscal benefit.
False promises can appear more plausible than the status quo.
Yet, healthcare should really be 50% cheaper.
The solutions are founded in basic economics and American principles restoring individual control over their own healthcare with real options, along with putting physicians and healthcare professionals back in charge of medical care. The Texas legislature can go a long way to improve healthcare by addressing the anticompetitive and monopolistic business practices, as well as the improper control of insurance and corporate bureaucracies that exploit healthcare and keep prices high. Removing drug dispensing restrictions, for example, will bring a 90% reduction in generic drug costs, including critical medications like epinephrine and inhaled steroids. Reform is easy, but the resistance by entrenched interests remains staggering. Failure to reform risks frustrated voters reaching for false promises. Texas should lead with patient-driven solutions. We can call it the “You Can Have Your Doctor Back Act.”