Health Care Reform Not A Job Killer

Rick Scott has repeatedly called the health care reform bill President Obama signed "a job killer." Scott has repeatedly failed to back up his assertion with facts. The Medicare money Scott's former company Columbia/HCA took certainly helped make the hospital chain into a health care industry giant. The Justice Department forced Columbia/HCA to pay back $1.7 billion.

Previously, on December 14, 2000, HCA subsidiaries pled guilty to substantial criminal conduct and paid more than $840 million in criminal fines, civil restitution and penalties. Combined with today's separate administrative settlement with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), under which HCA will pay an additional $250 million to resolve overpayment claims arising from certain of its cost reporting practices, the government will have recovered $1.7 billion from HCA, by far the largest recovery ever reached by the government in a health care fraud investigation.

"Health care providers and professionals hold a public trust, and when that trust is violated by fraud and abuse of program funds, and by the payment of kickbacks to the physicians on whom patients and the programs rely for uncompromised medical judgment, health care for all Americans suffers," Robert D. McCallum, Jr., Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division said. "This settlement brings to a close the largest multi-agency investigation of a health care provider that the United States government has ever undertaken and demonstrates the Department of Justice's ongoing resolve and commitment to pursue all types of fraud on American taxpayers, and health care program beneficiaries."

For someone who claims to hate government health care, Scott has no problem taking federal health care dollars.

Harvard economist David Cutler has released a study that debunks the "job killer" talking point of Scott and other Republicans.

· Increase medical spending by $125 billion by the end of this decade and add nearly
$2,000 annually to family insurance premiums
· Destroy 250,000 to 400,000 jobs annually over the next decade
· Reduce the share of workers who start new businesses, move to new jobs, or otherwise
invest in themselves and the economy

Cutler cites rising costs in health insurance as keeping wages down and forcing employees to stay at lower paying jobs that provide health coverage. The lack of pay increases keeps people from buying homes, going back to school and being able to do their patriotic duty of shopping.

What really scares Scott and other Republicans is losing profits.

Health care analysts are virtually united in their view that medical spending is higher than it should be. They also agree that the approach taken in the Affordable Care Act is the right one to reduce this excessive spending.

Excessive medical spending is seen in several areas. A large literature shows that spending on acute and post-acute care exceeds appropriate levels.7 To take just a few examples, rehospitalization rates in the nation as a whole average twice what they are in the areas with the best care. Imaging has increased rapidly with little sense of whether prior rates were too low or that current rates are right. And care at the end of life is far more intensive than people and their families desire. Estimates suggest that about 30 percent of acute and post-acute care could be eliminated with no adverse health impact, and in many cases health improvements.

My problem with Affordable Health Choices Act is that it is a financial giveaway to the health care industry. Americans will be mandated to buy health insurance. This is a rather regressive fiscal policy. Health insurance companies will raise rates just a point below state guidelines. Over the course of time lobbyists will have Democrats and Republicans water the bill down more. The Affordable Health Choices Act is not health care reform. It is an updated version of the 1993 Republican health care proposal.