Congress must make hard choices on AHCA

The American Health Care Act passed by the House has tools that will limit the damage done by Obamacare. However, it does not include the cost-cutting game changers that will completely repair the damage and make quality care truly affordable.

These critical tools are: requiring health insurance providers to sell policies across state lines, and reforming tort laws to end exorbitant awards for medical malpractice suits. These steps will save billions and reduce costs more than all other elements included in the current version of the AHA plan.

Selling health insurance across state lines with transparent pricing will create competition that drives down costs dramatically and allows consumers to buy the exact coverage they need.

Changing the tort system to assure victims of medical malpractice receive fair and just compensation will end jury-shopping and runaway awards - practices that have created the astronomical rates hospitals and doctors pay for malpractice insurance. These costs are passed on directly to patients via billing and indirectly to consumers via health insurance premium increases.

Congress must make these critical cost-cutting measures part of the final Obamacare replacement bill. This will require courage because both ideas are being fought by health insurance lobbyists and trial lawyers who donate millions to influence politicians to block such changes.

If the final version of the AHA turns out to be "Obamacare Lite," we must remove every Congressman who squanders our last chance to make health insurance truly affordable.

Richard Stack

Huntley