Over the past decade, health care costs have only gone up, and they’re projected to continue rising for the foreseeable future.
Americans deserve better. They are demanding affordable health care solutions that will lower our premiums and improve our health care.
Fortunately, Americans for Prosperity has a solution — the Personal Option — that will give you control over your health care, expand access, and lower costs. The Personal Option is a patient-centered set of reforms that eliminates the middlemen and allows people to choose the coverage and care that best fit their needs. By empowering patients, the Personal Option will increase competition and options and ultimately provide more affordable health care.
But why has our health care gotten so expensive? And how will restoring health care freedom get those prices down?
Government-led health care: A siren song
According to some, the government is the ultimate solution to our health care problems and the best way to ensure all Americans have the care they deserve.
But the government is rarely the best solution. And that’s true in this case, too.
In practice, government-led health care leads to endless wait times, red tape, fewer options, and ultimately more expensive care for all.
If you don’t believe me, you only have to look at the waiting times and quality of health care in top-down health care systems like the United Kingdom’s.
To get better, more affordable health care for all, we need to center our policies on empowering the people who are the most affected by them: you.
It should be you, not a government bureaucrat in Washington, who’s in charge of your health. Here are five ways AFP’s Personal Option will give Americans more freedom in their health care while reducing costs.
Health savings accounts (HSAs)We should push for all options that empower Americans to take control over their health care, and health savings accounts are one of the best tools to do that.HSAs are personal, tax-free savings accounts designed to cover a wide variety of qualified medical expenses. Think about them like a 401(k) for your health.HSAs are very flexible. You can use an HSA for your annual check-up, buy the new glasses you need, buy some prescription drugs, and even log into Amazon’s HSA store to buy your medicines easily.
And if at the end of the year you have some money left in your HSA, you don’t have to worry about losing it. Any unused funds in your HSA roll over to the next year.
Expanding access to HSAs empowers patients to manage their own health care spending and get their medical bills down. It’s a smart, flexible way to plan for both routine and unexpected medical needs.
Right now, only about 20% of Americans have access to an HSA. Every American should have this option.
Lower drug costsFor 80% of Americans, prescription drugs are too expensive, and they’re right.The most effective way to lower prescription drug prices is to implement real, market-oriented reforms that increase competition and innovation and make health care more affordable for all Americans.At AFP, we know there are two commonsense fixes that would get prescription drugs down:
Allowing Americans to buy safe, effective drugs that’ve already been approved in countries with trustworthy regulatory agencies.
Modernize the Food and Drug Administration’s slow approval process — without sacrificing important safety checks.These logical fixes will make the market more competitive and more affordable.
Repeal certificate-of-need (CON) lawsCertificate-of-need laws ban health care providers from opening or expanding facilities without prior government authorization. While little known, these laws play a big role in making health care more expensive and less accessible for millions of Americans.Special interests and powerful lobbies have pushed hard for these laws, which give established health care facilities a way to stifle competition and protect their bottom lines by leaving patients with fewer options and higher costs.Repealing CON laws would allow more clinics and hospitals to open, increasing availability and driving down prices through market competition. More providers mean more options — and better care.
Direct primary care (DPC)We’ve all dealt with the infuriating, convoluted, and sometimes impossible-to-understand ways insurance companies work. For years, this has been just how things are, but now, there’s another way.Direct primary care is a model where patients pay a flat monthly fee directly to their physician for a range of primary care services without any health insurance company involved. Think of it as Netflix for your preferred doctor.Promoting DPC will help us make our health care system more streamlined and affordable.
Telehealth optionsFor many Americans, physically going to the doctor’s office might be easier said than done. For some, the closest doctor might be hours away; for others with chronic diseases, it might be impossible to do so.That’s where telehealth proves valuable as it makes it easier for patients to consult with providers without traveling.
During the pandemic, telehealth proved its worth. Now, it’s time to make it a permanent part of our health care system.
Expand freedom, make health care affordable.
Let’s be honest: Our health care system isn’t working for most of us. It’s too complicated and too expensive for millions of Americans.
The system needs to be fixed. We need affordable health care solutions.
And the best, most effective way to ensure this happens is by giving Americans the freedom to choose what’s best for themselves.
