While most press coverage of S. 6 has focused on the ability to sue HMOs in state court, the bill includes many other purported rights such as the right to have the government determine how many physicians each health plan should include. It is not clear why patients needs would be better served by giving government bureaucrats the right to dictate how many doctors they must pay through their health plans. The right to have direct access to a specialist is purely theoretical to the millions who are not able to afford insurance at all. Yet S. 6 merely entails a litany of mandates and requirements, with no relief to the uninsured population. Although these health care mandates are meant to expand health coverage, they would actually lead to less coverage overall.
Higher premiums mean fewer consumers are able to afford coverage.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that every 1 percent increase in premiums due to mandated health benefits causes over 100,000 Americans to lose their employer-based health coverage. 4 And mandated benefits prevent as many as one-fifth of all small businesses that do not offer health coverage from doing so. Instead of giving Washington s bureaucrats more control over health care spending, that power should be returned to patients. Real reform doesn t mean more mandates, but rather giving patients more freedom of choice. The best way to accomplish this goal is to make saving money for health expenses tax-free.