When it comes to health care, Hispanics need a personal option that improves quality and lowers costs
Hispanics know that despite a lot of activity in Washington in recent years, it’s still hard to afford quality health care and health insurance.
- According to Gallup, the percentage of uninsured Hispanics is nearly four times greater than the percentage of non-Hispanic white Americans.
- More than one-quarter of Hispanics went without a health care visit over the course of a year, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
- Twenty-two percent of Hispanics went without care over the course of a year due to cost. That’s a sad situation.
Simply put, health care remains an important challenge — despite the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and massive federal spending on health insurance programs.
Americans should be able to receive the care they need, when they need it, at competitive prices. Out-of-pocket costs should not be a prohibitive barrier to receiving medical care and maintaining a healthy well-being.
Some people say the answer is a government takeover of health care, such as “Medicare for All” or a “public option.” While that “solution” might sound appealing, it cannot guarantee the basic protections people need. For one, people in countries with government-run, single-payer health care typically endure chronic medical shortages, long waiting lists, and bureaucratic rationing.
Instead of a “public option,” Americans need a personal option: universal access to affordable, high-quality care — without a government takeover.
To that end, health care reform should focus on improving choice in health care and promoting competition that gives people a range of options at competitive prices — and not just spending more taxpayer dollars to increase access to insurance that does not offer benefits people want.
America needs to focus on expanding care, improving quality, and lowering costs for all Americans, as well as encouraging innovation that can improve the very nature of the health care system.
To improve the health care system, we need to enact targeted legislation that solves specific problems with patient-centered solutions. These would include:
- Expediting the approval of medicines to allowing medical professionals to practice to the full extent of their training
- Encouraging competition and innovation
- Fostering greater implementation of current technology.
These reforms will expand access to medical care, so more people have the options to be seen and costs are lowered, as well as transition health care decisions back to patients and their doctors.
Learn more about LIBRE’s plan for personal health care options.