There is no simple solution to fix our broken health care system. It’s just too expensive, especially for our most vulnerable and underserved communities. For years, I have been thinking of ideas on how to tackle this very difficult issue. Given it’s complexity, it requires help from both the state and federal level. But we must include the private sector in these discussions. Subsidizing health care does nothing to solve or address the root cause of skyrocketing costs. I’ve shared my suggestions with Rep. Gabe Evans–whose 8th Congressional District overlaps with my own House District 50–as well as insurance companies.
First, the fact that many of our prescription drugs come from China is a big problem. We continue to offshore jobs and support the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as we get our drugs from them. We must bring those jobs back and make more of our own prescription drugs here at home. Second, let’s eliminate state lines to buy health insurance. Increasing competition will lead to better coverage options and more competitive premiums. Why can’t we customize our health insurance like we do for car insurance? We deserve more options for healthcare coverage.
When we get private insurance, we are only allowed to insure spouses and children. Why not expand to immediate family? I’ve seen the way some health professionals treat Medicaid patients, my mother is one of them. I am outraged that I, as one who has private insurance, cannot insure her. Let us insure our parents, our siblings, grandparents, nieces and nephews, and cousins. While the argument can be made about higher premiums, I’m sure people like me wouldn’t care what we have to pay as long as our family members get the treatment they need. Not only would our loved ones get better care, we’d pull them off of Medicaid and Medicare, relieving state taxpayers of that costly burden in the long run.
Currently, in the Colorado legislature there is a fight over balancing the budget and one of the requests, coming primarily from Governor Polis, is to cut the Medicaid reimbursement rates. At a time when people are struggling and our hospitals– especially those serving rural communities–are short on funding, we cannot afford to shut the doors to our most vulnerable.
Again, we don’t bring the private sector to the table to help us make decisions. The state cannot afford to take everything on its own. But statism runs rampant in the legislature. This is a disaster in the making. We’ve already seen some insurance companies pull out of Colorado.
We simply have too much red tape in our health care industry. We must slash regulations and move towards a free market approach in our health care. I believe in trade. For example, if an HVAC contractor needs a surgery, why can’t he trade the doctor a surgery for a new furnace? An agreement between the two parties to exchange goods and services would also help get people the access they need. Our system is not sustainable and we will see the impacts on those that are most in need, such as seniors on fixed incomes, low income Coloradans, and children.
We need to fix our health care system and we need to fix it now.
Ryan Gonzalez represents House District 50 in the Colorado legislature, which encompasses central and east Greeley as well as Evans and Garden City.
