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Dr. Rand Paul addresses health care forum
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Republican senatorial candidate Dr. Rand Paul spoke to a crowd of over 100 people during a Health Care Town Hall Forum in Lexington this morning. The Bowling Green ophthalmologist drew heavily from his experience as an eye surgeon, advocating for free market health care reforms as an alternative to the government fixes proposed by Pres. Obama and Democrat leaders in Congress.
Paul framed the problem as a cost problem, pointing out that health care delivery and quality in the U.S. remains the best in the world. He also said that accesses to health care wasn’t the prime issue.
“One third of uninsured are eligible for Medicaid and don’t sign up. Why? Because they have emergency room access. They get a cold they just go to the hospital.”
Paul said that 90 percent of health care is elective, not emergency.
“What I hear from my patients is not there’s an access problem, it’s that it’s so expensive.”
Paul blamed government intervention into the market via Medicare, Medicaid and over regulation of insurance companies for skyrocketing costs.
“I charge the same price they do in Montana because the government sets the price. It’s not competition. There is no price competition,” he said.
The eye surgeon pointed out that the price of contact lenses and Lasik have dropped every year for the past 15 yeas, both products and procedures that most people pay for in cash.
To lower cost, Paul proposed a plan relying on health savings accounts (HSAs) coupled with catastrophic insurance to place patients in control of how they spend their health care dollars. He said that Americans have come to rely too much on insurance for routine medical care.
“You don’t buy insurance for things that are going to happen. You buy it for things you don’t expect to happen - like getting cancer.”
He said that he would like to see health insurance disconnected from employment and more like term-life insurance, where individuals sign contracts for long- term coverage. Paul explained that this would eliminate the problem denial for pre-existing conditions when people lose coverage with a job change, pointing out that if he has a heart attack and survives, his life insurance premium does not increase because he has a long -term contract.
Paul said that when people pay out of pocket for routine health care they will shop around and pay attention to price, forcing doctors to compete and ultimately lowering costs.
“It works everywhere else,” Paul said of free markets. “Why can you go to Wal Mart and buy a Go-Phone for $14? Because people pay cash for it. We need to connect health care with the individual. In my practice, nobody cares about the price.”
Opponents counter that HSAs discourage preventative care and ultimately place a heavier burden on the system. But Paul counters that people need to take responsibility for their own health and well-being.
“The Democrats hate individual responsibility, he said. “They think you’re too stupid to take care of yourselves and you need all encompassing Big Brother to do it.”
Rubin Kadamyan agreed with Paul’s call for personal responsibility. He came to the United States in 1991 from the Soviet Union. He found a job as a roofer making $5.50 and hour and said that he paid $380 per month for health insurance for his family.
“It was important. I had two sons,” Kadamyan said. “It’s a matter of priority. Some people want health insurance, some people want a big screen TV.”
During a question and answer period, Paul said that he advocates tort reform, but that it should come from Frankfort, not from Washington because doctors get sued in state courts. He also supports lowering barriers that keep insurance companies from selling across state lines, citing it as one area an abused commerce clause in the Constitution actually applies.
Paul emphatically asserted that the government takeover of the health care system is not a solution and would ultimately lead to higher costs and rationing.
“All government programs, because they are ‘free’, are over utilized and short on money,” he said. “And they’re not free. We all pay higher taxes.”
The strongest crowd reaction of the morning came when Paul addressed the issue of Congress passing 1,000 and 2,000 page bills within 72 hours, giving no time to analyze the legislation before voting.
“I am going to propose 20 days for every page of the bill,” he joked, eliciting laughter and roaring applause. When the crowd finally quieted he continued. “Some of what I say is hyperbole, but we have to slow the process down.”
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