Which is the best antidote to the failures of the Act?
Time to discard the burdens and costs of Obamacare
By Rick Perry
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Jan. 25, 2007, then-Sen. Barack Obama delivered a speech declaring that “the time has come for universal health care in America.” Two years later, he was president of the United States — and he told a joint session of Congress that health care was his top priority. Just over a year after that, Obamacare became the law of the land.
America has been staggering under its burdens and failures ever since.
Insurance companies have pulled up stakes in states across the country, leaving consumers few options throughout the country.
Costs have risen dramatically, despite Democratic promises Obamacare would lower insurance costs. Patients have lost choices, doctors and insurance plans, and in some cases, lost access to cancer specialists and other life-saving caregivers.
It was always predictable Obamacare would collapse of its own weight because it centralizes health care in America, empowering the bureaucracy instead of doctors and patients. It has not controlled health care costs as promised. Instead, Americans are paying more than ever. Unchecked, it is careening toward disaster.
The answer to this massive problem is not to do nothing. That would expose millions of Americans to greater risk because of a paralysis to act. It is to pass patient-centered reform that expands choices while mending the safety net the most vulnerable Americans rely upon for their care.
Lost in the reform debate is a mention of the best solution. The best antidote to the failures of centralization is decentralization.
It’s time to empower the states, as our federalist system envisions.
I served as governor of Texas, the second largest state, for 14 years. I know full well that Texans largely have different ideas about health care than well-intentioned Washington bureaucrats.
Over the years, Texas has done a number of innovative things to improve health care in ways we knew made sense for Texas.
The Lone Star State set up its own high-risk pool to help people with pre-existing conditions; it established programs like Special Needs for Children, Star+Plus, which is our state-managed home and community-based services program, and PACE, Texas’ all-inclusive program for elder care.
Washington would not have known how to do those things right for Texas.
For an issue as personal and as important as health care, there’s no one policy Congress can come up with that will be right for some 320 million Americans. It’s why, when Obamacare was implemented in 2014, hundreds of thousands of Texans decided they’d rather pay fines than navigate the Byzantine system of regulation, and its various unintended costs.
The proposal from Congress contains many positive reforms to Medicaid — in fact, they are included in the Senate’s Better Care Reconciliation Act. These would give states more control to deliver better care at lower costs for those in need.
The spirit of those reforms should be incorporated into the rest of the health care debate to free states fully from the regulatory burdens of Obamacare that Washington has imposed upon them.
Greater flexibility alone will not solve the problem for states caring for the sick and poor. Sufficient federal resources are still needed for governors to deliver effective care under Medicaid. I agree with Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah that health care choices should be transparent and free of Washington requirements. Let’s keep the costs of plans down for everyone and make sure Americans with pre-existing conditions are adequately covered.
There is an historic opportunity for Congress to finally empower people and states and move control out of Washington. There will not be another opportunity like this for a very long time.
It has never been enough to repeal Obamacare. Repeal is obvious, because its failure is obvious. Replacing it is much harder work. But it must be done, with a focus on returning health care to states, individuals, and the health care professionals that care for them.
The debate over health care has consumed Washington for over a decade. America can’t afford another decade of spiraling costs, political bickering, or inaction.
This may be the only window we have to do this. Millions of Americans are depending on their representatives to repeal this crushing law and can benefit from the common-sense solutions being considered in the Senate.
We cannot, and must not, fail them any longer.
Rick Perry, who served as governor of Texas from December 2000 to January 2015, is the U.S. secretary of energy.
