Health Services Commission Ignores Citizens and Law

By Bob Williams

The Health Services Commission just concluded eight public hearings around the state on the proposed details to implement the Washington Health Services Act of 1993. After witnessing the blatant disregard for constructive input, it is apparent that the Commission is going full speed ahead with its plan to socialize much of Washington state's health care system despite the widespread opposition of the people.

The Commission seems to believe that government knows better than the public. Once they impose their socialized system on us, they believe we will see the light and thank them for being such enlightening bureaucrats.

The Health Care Commissioners have ignored the people's overwhelming opposition to limiting our choice of doctors, employer mandates, employee mandates, and restricting our ability to go directly to the specialist of our choice. They appear intent on changing the existing doctor-patient relationship to one of the doctor representing a certified health plan, the only player in this scenario with the right to make decisions. Essentially, it means that doctors will not longer be free to tell patients what are the best treatments and alternatives available. Instead, practitioners will be forced to spout the health plan's proposed cost control treatment program.

What deeply concerns us is the Commission's wilful disregard of its legal responsibility to monitor the actual growth in total annual health services costs. Remember, rising health care costs was one of the two issues driving the reform legislation. A major intent of the health services act is to "stabilize health services costs." In fact, when the Health Services Act of 1993 was passed, we were told that it would control the rapid increases in health care costs. But since the Commission was established, it has done little work on real costs. Instead Commissioners have concentrated on their bold social experiment of establishing a one-size-fits-all, socialized health care system.

Over the past few years, the rise in health care spending by the private sector has been brought under control. Spending by the state government, meanwhile, is still escalating at a rate that far exceeds inflation. (i.e. Medicaid spending has gone up an average of 32% per year for the past four years!)

On October 11, I testified before the Health Care Commission at one of the public hearings in Lacey. I asked the Commissioners how many of them had seen any state reports on health care spending in the past twelve months. The reply was amazing! Not one of them had ever seen a report. I asked if they knew the total state budget for health care for the current two year budget. None of them did. I pointed out that it is $9.3 billion, up $1.7 billion in the past two years. How can the Commission fulfill the intent of the law to stabilize health care costs if they aren't even looking at the most rapidly growing cost--health care spending by the state government?

The second key to controlling escalating costs in health care is effective medical malpractice reform. Once again, the Commission has dropped the ball on this one. Millions of dollars are being spent on defensive medicine in order to protect health care providers and hospitals from lawsuits. It is inexcusable for the Commission to ignore this factor if they ever hope to stabilize health care costs.

Citizens are urged to let the Commission know their opinion by writing to the Health Services Commission at PO Box 41185, Olympia, Wa 98504-1185.

Bob Williams is the President of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization.

Evergreen Freedom Foundation P.O. Box 552, Olympia, WA 98507 Phone: (360) 956-3482, Fax: (360) 352-1874 Email: effwa@effwa.org