New Ideas Not Medicaid Will Create a Healthy Georgia

Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Obamacare could not force states to expand their Medicaid programs, there has been a relentless campaign to get Georgia to reverse course and add more patients to the 53-year-old government plan.

But having a Medicaid card doesn’t mean patients can easily find a doctor to see them. If you are a Medicaid patient and need a specialist to monitor your diabetes, high blood pressure or heart condition, for example, it’s often more difficult to find a physician who will take Medicaid than someone with private insurance, Medicare or even Obamacare.

As a result, Medicaid patients often have worse healthcare outcomes as they let conditions escalate and wind up in the emergency room for treatment.

If the goal is to provide better healthcare for Georgians, especially in rural parts of the state, then we need to stop relying on a failed government program and look to 21st Century ideas to offer new healthcare options to those who need it.

It’s time to consider transformational models such as:

• Telehealth. From “seeing” a doctor on your smart phone to a specialist for a procedure via Skype at a local hospital, telehealth makes healthcare more accessible and affordable to Georgians as it reduces the cost of infrastructure and creates real-time interaction between doctors and patients. In rural communities, telehealth provides access to care where there is a tremendous shortage of primary care doctors and specialists. Our state should pursue available federal grants so telehealth sites can be set up in health clinics, physicians’ offices, fire stations and a host of other potential locations that can provide primary care and disease management.
• Georgia’s Rural Hospital Tax Credit Program. Our state currently allows corporations and individuals to donate up to $60 million annually to a program to benefit rural hospitals. In exchange for the credit on their state income taxes, hospitals can use the funds to purchase equipment and make other improvements. Fifty-eight hospitals have generated an average of $600,000 to $1.4 million since the launch of the tax credit initiative -- no strings attached. Lawmakers should raise the cap to $100 million so hospitals can meet the unique healthcare needs of each community.
• Charitable and community healthcare clinics. We have a network of charitable clinics that were founded by churches, charities and local physicians’ groups or hospitals and are staffed with doctors, nurses and other medical personnel who donate their time to treat the working poor. They charge patients on a sliding scale basis who earn too little to afford health insurance but too much to qualify for Medicaid. In addition, we have federal-funded health clinics offering the same services in local communities. We need to do more to expand the scope and availability of these clinics so the uninsured have access to care.
• Competition into the healthcare marketplace. Georgia needs to examine high-risk pools and association health plans so the uninsured have choices other than wildly expensive Obamacare plans. In addition, we need to require more price transparency in the healthcare marketplace so patients can shop and compare what hospitals and physicians charge for their services. We also need to explore whether Georgia should continue with its antiquated certificate of need law which allows one medical facility to shut out another in offering services such as heart procedures or delivering babies in an effort to monopolize revenue at the expense of patient access and increase costs.

When Congress founded Medicaid, it was a program to help poor women and their children and the disabled. But Medicaid’s huge expansion is now contributing to the national debt and straining Georgia’s budget. It has more waste, fraud and abuse than any health insurance program in the country.

Medicaid expansion is a political solution that promises free health care in exchange for votes. The fact that is leads to less access, worse care, and diminished health outcomes makes no difference to those who see a larger government role in healthcare as a stepping stone to single-payer healthcare.

Most Georgians aspire to obtain a high-paying job that will provide their families quality health insurance coverage. But if that is not possible for some, then we need to think beyond a 1960s model and offer innovative and affordable ways to deliver medical care.

Duncan, the GOP candidate for lieutenant governor, served in the Georgia House from Cumming. He is a small businessman, the former CEO of Wellview Health and a former pitcher for the Florida Marlins organization.