EDITORIAL: GOP proposes another stupid health care bill

June 26--Another day, another stupid health care bill that does nothing to lower prices and ease access to medical care.

When then-candidate Donald Trump met with The Gazette's editorial board last summer, he exuded the resolve of a father and grandfather seeking more productive market results for the benefit of all.

In a private meeting with Senate Republicans this month, President Trump rightly described the House Republican health care bill as "mean." He asked for a Senate bill written "generous, kind with heart."

All Senate Republicans proposed last week was more tweaking with taxes, regulations and Medicaid.

The bill does nothing to give Americans more doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician's assistants, hospitals, clinics, low-priced drugs and neighborhood wellness centers. It attempts to create nothing and merely continues a redistribution shell game that has government choosing winners and losers based on factors such as income and age.

Health care reform that is generous, kind and heartfelt would produce more health care for all. It would put clinics in strip malls, pharmacies and fire stations, and otherwise create a surplus that would have health care providers competing for patients.

Health care is a basic human need, much like food. When access to affordable food was a problem, during and after the Great Depression, government did not respond with policies that determined who was worthy to eat and which third party would pay for it. Instead, government ensured sustainable commodities of food for rich and poor alike.

It began with the ill-fated Agriculture Act of 1935 and continued with the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, the National School Lunch Act of 1946; the Agricultural Act of 1949; and President John F. Kennedy's executive order directing the Department of Agriculture to "increase the quantity and variety" of foods needed by low-income households.

Since 1935, the federal government has enacted at least 10 major directives to make food more accessible and affordable mostly by increasing supply.

Separately, the Federal Trade Commission ensures low prices by ensuring competition among food retailers. When Albertsons and Safeway merged, the FTC forced the companies to sell 168 stores to competitors. It took similar action when Whole Foods bought Wild Oats.

Because the federal government protects and promotes surpluses and competitive pricing, the cost of food has plummeted for the past century. A dozen eggs that cost 37 cents in 1913 should cost $9.15 today if adjusted for inflation. King Soopers recently advertised cartons of 18 eggs for 99 cents with a coupon.

Just as government protects affordable access to food, it has waged wars to create and protect surplus energy.

By contrast, government does nothing to establish surplus health care. Instead, Congress passes laws that only increase demand. Regulations create barriers to entry and dissuade competition.

"Increased insurance coverage increases demand, and Obamacare alone is projected to require about 16,000 to 17,000 more physicians than would have been required without it," explained Dr. Aaron Carroll, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Indiana School of Medicine, in the Nov. 6 New York Times.

Carroll explained the United States has 2.56 doctors per 1,000 people, while Austria has 4.99, Norway 4.31, Sweden 4.12, Germany and Switzerland 4.04.

In a ranking of 35 countries, the United States ranks 30th in production of medical graduates.

The Association of American Medical Colleges projects a shortfall of up to 90,400 physicians in the United States by 2025, which is seldom reported.

As baby boomers age, we see increasing demand on a diminishing supply of care. Yet nothing in the Affordable Care Act or Republican efforts to replace it has anything to do with providing more care.

Compassionate health care reform would order the Department of Education to increase the production of medical graduates, moving our ranking from 30th place to first. It would direct the Federal Trade Commission to more aggressively eliminate barriers to competition among care providers. Real reform would fund a community development block grant program to establish wellness clinics in fire departments and their neighborhood substations.

Generous, kind, heartfelt health care reform would include a directive for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to emphasize recruitment of health care professionals from other countries.

Congress, or an executive decree, would order the Small Business Administration to lower risks and costs associated with financing medical and pharmaceutical startups.

Generous health care reform would focus on providers and consumers, not regulation adjustments to government and private insurance.

President Trump, ask Republicans to stop the useless shell game. Tell them to get serious about health care or get out of the way.

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