Healthcare reform is a critical issue both for the middle class and for the uninsured.  Unfortunately, the recent plans coming out of Washington are not the right way to address these issues.  The latest Democratic plan calls for a “public option” in which a new government-run healthcare plan will cover the uninsured.  However, this plan makes an error that can be fatal in medicine—it focuses on the symptom, not the root cause of what ails healthcare in America today.  The fundamental problem with healthcare is out-of-control costs, yet these proposed plans focus on covering the uninsured by taxing the already insured.

Healthcare premiums for the middle class have risen at five times the rate of inflation for the last ten years.  American spends 16.5% of every dollar on healthcare right now, and it is the best in the world.  However, it is unsustainable path for healthcare costs with two dire consequences.  First, the middle class continues to get squeezed through higher premiums and co-pays.  Second, over 6% of people in Connecticut go without healthcare insurance because it is so expensive.  But the root cause of both of these problems is the fact that healthcare costs skyrocket faster than we can afford them.

The current “reform” efforts simply try to cover more of the uninsured, without addressing the problem of escalating costs.  The Obama plan would cover the 6% of uninsured in Connecticut by taxing the other 94% of us with health insurance.  Harming most of us to help some of us is not an ideal answer.  A better reform plan would be one that actually reduces healthcare costs for the middle class and makes basic plans more affordable for those without healthcare.

I have proposed a series of reforms to reduce healthcare costs.  Six key areas will reduce healthcare costs dramatically:  preventative medicine, mandate reform, interstate competition, medical malpractice reform, healthcare IT, and expanded low-cost plans.

1)      Preventative Medicine.  Over 70% of our healthcare costs are tied to five diseases—heart disease, prostate cancer, breast cancer, diabetes, and obesity.  Most of these can be detected early through proper screening or prevented through proper care.  Screening and prevention not only saves lives, but reduces costs dramatically—it costs 90% less to treat cancer patients if we catch the disease early, and increases the survival rate dramatically.  We need to shift our medical system incentives from treatment to prevention.

I have proposed a “healthy living tax credit” that would allow any family that obtains all physicals and age/gender appropriate preventative care to deduct all their medical out-of-pocket expenses from their income tax.  If we could incent more people to get proper screening for cancer and heart disease, we would not only save billions in treatment costs but save lives as well.

2)      Mandate Reform.  Connecticut mandates over seventy coverages for everyone in Connecticut—adding about $20 per month to your insurance costs whether you need it or not.  Single women are covered for prostate cancer.  Seniors are covered for fertility treatment.  All of us are paying for coverage we do not need because it is mandated.  My proposal would allow a “a la carte” system where insurance companies would be required to offer you these coverages—but you could choose to have them or not.

3)      Interstate Competition.  Consumers and businesses today may not shop across state borders for their healthcare.  You must buy a plan within your home state.  Lack of competition drives up prices for small businesses and families.  We should allow interstate competition between healthcare plans—and increased competition will drive down prices like it does in any market.

4)      Medical Malpractice Reform. Medical malpractice also drives up prices.  When doctors are sued and pay out multi-million settlements, that cost just gets passed along to us.  While there should be no limits for medical or economic awards when someone gets a malpractice settlement, we need to limit the multi-million “mental anguish” payments that are driving up healthcare costs for the rest of us.

5)      Healthcare IT.  Better electronic medical records and IT improvements will also enhance care and reduce costs.  President Obama has this aspect of health reform 100% right.  If your medical records can be accessed by any doctor or specialist, it will cut down on transfer costs and reduce medical error.

6)      Low Cost Private Plans.  As we lower the cost of healthcare we need to create more low-cost, private-sector run plans.  Governor Rell’s Charter Oak Plan is an example of a no-frills health plan that costs families less than $100 per month.  Expansion of programs like these will ensure less people go without healthcare—because we make it affordable for them.

Together, these six reforms could reduce the cost of healthcare dramatically in Connecticut—while saving more lives through more prevention and better care.  Rather than just taxing the insured to pay for the uninsured, we need a more intelligent and creative approach to reforming healthcare.  Hopefully Democrats and Republicans in Washington can come together for a bipartisan solution that helps both the middle class and those without healthcare through reducing out-of-control costs.

Dan Debicella is the State Senator representing Stratford, Shelton, Monroe, and Seymour.  If you have feedback for him or want to talk about the issues, he can be reached toll-free at (800) 842-1421 or by e-mail at dan.debicella@cga.ct.gov