{"id":25239,"date":"2019-09-29T06:00:27","date_gmt":"2019-09-29T10:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=25239"},"modified":"2019-09-26T15:29:56","modified_gmt":"2019-09-26T19:29:56","slug":"op-ed-government-run-healthcare-wont-improve-care-and-wont-save-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=25239","title":{"rendered":"Op\/Ed: Government run healthcare won\u2019t improve care and won\u2019t save money"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Guy Ciarrocchi<\/strong>, President & CEO of the Chester County Chamber of Business & Industry<\/i><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Guy Ciarrocchi<\/p><\/div>\n

Healthcare for the overwhelming majority of Americans is very good.\u00a0 However, some costs are too high and for some healthcare is not accessible.<\/p>\n

So, this is the challenge for thoughtful policy-makers.\u00a0 The question is how to make good healthcare accessible to everyone.\u00a0 The answer must not make matters worse.\u00a0 The answer must not stop medical advancements.\u00a0 The answer must not increase costs or must not decrease access.\u00a0 The \u201canswer<\/span>\u201d must be guided by the Doctors\u2019 Oath: \u201c<\/i>Do No Harm.<\/span><\/i>\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

Therefore, the answer is not government-run healthcare.\u00a0 Whatever these new programs are called \u2013Single-Payer,<\/i> Medicare for All, Public Option or Government-Run Healthcare\u2014<\/i>common sense, experience and basic math tells us that the these programs not only won\u2019t work; but also, they will likely ruin the health insurance programs on which most Americans now rely.<\/p>\n

No one serious about a sustainable, fair solution says to her\/himself: \u201cYou know, things would run much better, if Washington, D.C. government agencies managed healthcare for all 329 million Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead of radically altering the current landscape and putting government in charge, federal lawmakers should focus on making improvements to the private insurance market, which most residents rely on and like; and, strengthening and shore-up Medicare for those who must depend on it.<\/p>\n

Every single sponsor of government-run healthcare admits that higher taxes\u2014much higher taxes\u2014are necessary to pay for these new programs.\u00a0 These new, higher taxes would sink many small businesses in Chester County.\u00a0 In addition to lowering local economic growth and increasing the unemployment rate, these new DC-run programs will raise costs and erode the level of care for most people.<\/p>\n

Another problem: a government-run health system could lead to massive layoffs\u2014less nurses, technicians or even doctors. According to the Philadelphia-based management consulting firm, Navigant<\/a>, we could see up to two dozen hospitals close here in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

The Medicare system already is in dire straits. Instead of putting this important program at risk by adding to its burden, lawmakers must fix it so it can continue to serve the millions of senior citizens who really need it.<\/p>\n

And, most sponsors of \u201cMedicare for all\u201d admit that it would eliminate private insurance coverage, and maybe companies. Since government bureaucrats will have to keep costs low, the range of treatments and options for patients will decline.\u00a0 It would bring every man, woman and child into a government system that takes away choice and provides worse care.<\/p>\n

We do not have to go down this path.<\/p>\n

We do not have to create the largest government program, ever.\u00a0 We do not have to turn-over healthcare to DC bureaucrats.\u00a0 We do not have to raise trillions of dollars in taxes. We do not have to bankrupt Medicare.<\/p>\n

Do no harm.\u00a0 Let\u2019s use common-sense.\u00a0 The focus should be on supporting and expanding private healthcare access; and, strengthening Medicare.<\/p>\n

Guy Ciarrocchi is the President & CEO of the Chester County Chamber of Business & Industry. Learn more at CCCBI.org<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Guy Ciarrocchi, President & CEO of the Chester County Chamber of Business & Industry Healthcare for the overwhelming majority of Americans is very good.\u00a0 However, some costs are too high and for some healthcare is not accessible. So, this is the challenge for thoughtful policy-makers.\u00a0 The question is how to make good healthcare accessible […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25241,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[2653,3912,2596],"class_list":["post-25239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-chester-county-chamber-of-business-and-industry","tag-featured","tag-health-care"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25239"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25240,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25239\/revisions\/25240"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}