By Chuck Schmidt – President of Market Freedom Alliance
Some Democrats in Washington continue to push heavy-handed, government-run health care insurance proposals that would raise taxes on hardworking Americans while failing to deliver on lofty promises of improved care. For the good of Arizona’s taxpayers, patients, and health care providers, Senator Kyrsten Sinema should help guide the health care discussion away from these top-down, unaffordable proposals and toward more realistic policy solutions.
Medicare is a hugely important program for the millions of seniors currently enrolled in it; however, it is also one that faces tremendous financial challenges. Proposals aimed at expanding the role of Medicare in our health care system—like the so-called “public option,” Medicare “buy-in,” or Medicare at 60—will only exacerbate the problems Medicare already faces, potentially putting access to care at risk for millions of American seniors.
Any of these proposals would be hugely expensive, and likely would require increasing taxes—perhaps significantly so—on many American individuals and families. Additionally, these unaffordable proposals would undoubtedly disrupt the insurance marketplace, creating major complications for private and employer-sponsored plans (and, more importantly, the people who rely on them for coverage). Ultimately, this could translate into fewer and fewer options and less flexibility for individual patients.
For example, both the Congressional Budget Office and Kaiser Family Foundation report that one of Medicare’s signature programs—the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, which pays out Part A benefits—is expected to run out of funding in 2026. This fund is often used to measure the financial status of the Medicare program, meaning the outlook is already grim.
The answer to Medicare’s financial solvency issues is not shoving millions of new Americans into the program. That will only threaten access and increase costs for the seniors for whom this program was specifically designed. That would be a slap in the face for the folks who have worked and contributed to the program for decades.
In fact, the only thing Medicare expansion—no matter what we call it—would do is introduce massive new costs, increase taxes, and reduce access to care for patients in need. This is no way to improve health care in America.
We need health care solutions that leverage the power of the free market to increase competition, drive down costs, and improve access to and quality of care for Arizonans and all Americans. That is how we can fix our health care system, and that is what Senator Sinema should push for in Congress.
Chuck Schmidt is the President of Market Freedom Alliance. Market Freedom Alliance is a 501 (c)4 created to educate Arizona citizens on public policy initiatives impacting individuals and businesses, and advocate for policies that promote and foster business growth.