Since state lawmakers are again entertaining and passing along a misguided plea for the federal government to create a so-called universal system of health care — or let Washington state go at one alone — I’m back with reasons why such a policy ask is hazardous to Washingtonians’ health.
Senate Joint Memorial 8006 cleared the Senate last year and has again this year, slightly amended. Along with clearly enumerating its requests of the federal government, updating the number of a policy proposal currently in Congress and a few other minimal changes, the memorial takes the opportunity to call health care a right (I say it’s a need) and offers a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr.
While MLK quotes are often irresistible, this legislation should be resisted. Why? I count the ways in a 2023 policy paper. Some key takeaways from my research follow:
— “Universal care” does not give care to all when they need it. Other government-run, taxpayer-financed systems lead to the rationing of care. Demand always outstrips supply, and patient-centered health care is not the priority.
— Individual health care does not benefit from taking away decisions made between doctors and patients. Citizens — not governments — are the best advocates for their health care needs.
— A higher tax burden, which a taxpayer-financed system would require, makes Washington state a less appealing place to live and work.
— Safety net programs already rightly exist for people in need of health care services. Creating new taxes would add to the cost of living and hurt low-income workers, some of whom already benefit from taxpayer-funded health care.
— SJM 8006 is filled with questionable, debatable claims that should concern lawmakers.
— Lawmakers should act to move personal decisions about health care away from the political process and closer to the patient. SJM 8006 asks the federal government to do the opposite.
Friday morning, SJM 8006 was in an executive session where the House Health Care and Wellness Committee gave the memorial a do-pass that allows it to move on in the session. That’s where this memorial dead-ended last year. It might again, or it could receive a floor vote in the state House of Representatives.
As Rep. Joe Schmick, R-Colfax, said in executive session, the state’s Universal Health Care Commission, on which he serves, is stumped on very basic questions related to creating a state-based “universal” system of care. He called SJM 8006 premature. Still, the memorial passed the committee on party lines, as expected.
State legislators should be careful what they wish for. Socialized health care systems have trouble both here and abroad. A look at the Veterans Health Administration highlights many government shortcomings in universal systems. Medicaid and Medicare should also offer medicine to those inflicted with pie-in-the-sky hopes for government-run, taxpayer-financed health care that is affordable, accessible and of high quality.
When it comes to our health care system, more transparency, informed consumers and competition, and less regulatory burden, can get us closer to fine.
