Should More States Follow Colorado's Lead by Taking Healthcare Away from Washington?

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., March 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- For more than five decades, Washington has been claiming to reform healthcare with its one-size-fits-all, top-down approach. The failing system we have now is the result of their multiple "fixes." According to Deane Waldman, M.D., M.B.A. professor emeritus of pediatrics, pathology, and decision science and former director of Center for Healthcare Policy at Texas Public Policy Foundation, "We need to remove the federal government from healthcare. Colorado appears to have taken a first step. But appearances can be deceiving."

You might think the author of Curing the Cancer in U.S. Healthcare: StatesCare and Market-Based Medicine would support Colorado's move last year to increase state control of healthcare by creating what he calls "Medicare-for-All Lite," replacing federal control with state mandates. Colorado bills place price controls on emergency room charges, insulin, and potentially other medications, authorize Colorado to undercut American drug manufacturers by purchasing pharmaceuticals from Canada, and reimburse insurance companies for very expensive claims. There is even a bill to consider the implementation of a public insurance option that Colorado claims will "compete in the market against private plans."

Colorado's public option seems particularly shaky; Waldman writes that it will "produce an uneven playing field, pitting a public insurance company backed by taxpayer dollars with private companies that must balance their budgets from premiums paid by rate-payers."

Yes, Colorado's taking healthcare from Washington is a good move, Waldman says.  But, not the way they did it. A state taking over healthcare from the feds should first explain its plan to residents, starting with the effect on patient care, then savings to consumers, and finally net effect on taxpayers. If residents approve, only then should the plan become law. The way Colorado did it simply exchanges a federal tyranny for a state one.

In an interview, Dr. Waldman can discuss:

• Why Colorado's plan takes away a patient's right to choose the same way the U.S. House of Representatives does in their Medicare-for-All bill.
• Why it is highly unlikely that their plan will reduce overall state spending on healthcare ? the cost of bureaucracy.
• What we can learn from the former USSR's implementation of price controls.
• How consumers can get the care they need when they need it without going broke.

Waldman is a proponent of StatesCare in which the people of each state, not government, decide what healthcare will work best for their specific needs and resources. With StatesCare, there is no role for Washington, thus restoring the intent of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution. By removing Washington, more than a trillion healthcare dollars a year currently wasted on federal bureaucracy can be repurposed for patient care, he says.

About Deane Waldman

Dr. Deane studied and trained at Yale, Chicago Medical School, Mayo Clinic, Northwestern, and Harvard. He earned his MBA from Anderson Graduate Schools. Dr. Deane was chief of pediatric cardiology at Children's Hospital of San Diego, University of Chicago, and University of New Mexico. He was also director of the Center for Healthcare Policy at Texas Public Policy Foundation and a member of the Board of Directors of New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange. Dr. Deane is professor emeritus of pediatrics, pathology, and decision science. A sought-after media guest, he has written six print books and six e-books. His articles have been published by Fox News, CNS News, Huffington Post, The Hill, Real Clear Politics, Forbes, Real Clear Health, Federalist, Investor's Business Daily, USA Today and more.

Contact: Deane Waldman, MD, MBA, (505) 255-2999; [email protected]; www.deanewaldman.com

SOURCE Deane Waldman