Chambliss: Don't "mess up" health care system : Charles Oliver
The United States has the best health care system in the world, U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., said in Dalton on Wednesday.
'As policymakers we need to make sure we don't mess it up,' said Chambliss, speaking before about 250 people at the Dalton Golf and Country Club. Chambliss talked about health care reform efforts at a lunch hosted by the Dalton-Whitfield Chamber of Commerce.
'Obviously, by the attendance here today, all of you are very concerned,' he said.
Chambliss noted that health care now accounts for about 17 percent of the gross domestic product.
'This is not just about your ability to choose your doctor. This is an issue regarding where the economy of the United States is going,' he said.
Chambliss said one bill has passed three committees in the House of Representatives and will likely be voted on after Labor Day by the full House. And one bill has passed the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee. He said there are at least five other bills that have been introduced.
'There are several different plans out there, and it's kind of hard to talk about the Republican plan or the Democratic plan or the president's plan. It's really all of the above and yet none of the above,' he said.
Chambliss noted that 88 percent of Americans have health insurance. He said that 12 to 15 million of the estimated 50 million Americans without health insurance have no affordable health care options. Another 15 million can afford health insurance but choose not to buy it. Some 14 million are eligible for a government program such as Medicare or Medicaid but have not signed up. And 6 million are 'undocumented noncitizens.'
'I don't think your tax money needs to go to pay for a health insurance policy for those who are here illegally,' he said to large applause.
Chambliss said any health care reform should focus on those 12 to 15 million citizens who don't have access to health coverage now.
'That's the hardcore uninsured, and that's the group we need to figure out a way to reach,' he said.
Chambliss laid out several standards he said he believes such reform should meet.
'We need to make sure the policy coming out of Washington does not interfere with the doctor-patient relationship,' he said. 'The federal government does not ever need to be injected between a physician and a patient.'
He said Americans should be able to choose their own doctors and hospitals.
'Today, if you want to buy health insurance in Georgia, you've got to buy from a Georgia company. If there's a company in New Jersey or Texas that has developed a policy that looks good to you, that fits your personal situation, you ought to be able to buy that policy,' he said.
Chambliss rejected a 'government option' that would allow the federal government to compete with the private sector in the health insurance market.
He said the Senate bill would require all employers with at least 25 workers to offer health insurance or pay $750 per employee per year to the federal government which would cover them.
'If you don't provide health insurance to your employees today, that sounds awful strenuous. But if you provide health insurance to your employees today, and the government steps in and says 'For $750 we'll cover all your employees,' that's one heck of a deal,' he said.
Chambliss said some 88 million of the 177 million Americans who currently have health insurance could lose it if the government option is adopted and firms dump them into the public system.
'We are very concerned about what they are doing in Washington, and Sen. Chambliss is on the right side of the issues,' said state Sen. Don Thomas, R-Dalton, who is also a physician. 'We don't want anything to interfere with the doctor-patient relationship.'
