Letter to My Congressman on Health Care Reform

Dear Representative Klein:

I am opposed to the health care "reform" bill drafted by the US House. To address the rising costs of health care and the problem of the uninsured,I recommend the following:

1) Eliminate the tax discrepancy between insurance purchased by an employer (tax deductible), and insurance paid for directly by an individual (not tax deductible). This tax effect has created an illogical coupling between health insurance and employment. Why should the tax code encourage a system where I have health insurance when I am employed, but none when I am not?

2) Provide for the tax deductibility of health care paid for directly by the consumer by making HSA's available to everyone. Right now, if I don't have an HSA and I purchase health care directly, my medical care is most likely not tax deductible. But, if I pay for my medical care indirectly through an employer provided insurance policy, my medical care is tax deductible. In other words, the tax code encourages large insurance companies to become the middleman between the patient and doctor for virtually every single medical transaction, no matter how small or insignificant. If anything, shouldn't the tax code encourage exactly the opposite? HSA's at least level the playing field by eliminating this tax preference and putting consumers back in control of their own health care dollars. Consumer control, and getting the insurance company out of every single health care transaction is what will ultimately help bring down health care costs.

3) Allow for the purchase of insurance across state lines. The President says that he wants to increase competition between insurance companies. One easy way to do this is to allow groups and individuals to purchase health insurance across state lines. Right now, states have various levels of mandates that increase costs and are in effect political payoffs to various special interest groups. Allowing insurance to be purchased across state lines will provide competition, undermine these costly government imposed mandates, and bring down costs.

4) Tort reform. Law suits are extremely costly to our health care system, and any health care reform that is designed to bring down costs must involve tort reform. Proposals to cap punitive damages and institute "loser pays" rules should be considered. These types of reforms will discourage frivolous law suits and bring down costs without taking away a patient's right to their day in court.

Thank you for considering these ideas. I can assure you that I am sharing these ideas with people in my neighborhood and community -- your constituents.