By Representative John Kline

I have spent a lot of time these last few weeks meeting with workers, small business owners, health care professionals and hardworking families from rural and suburban Minnesota. What I hear from them is what my colleagues are hearing from Americans all across this great nation — a sense of uncertainty about the health care legislation moving through Congress like a runaway freight train.

They ask: What will happen to my coverage, and my choice of doctors? Will I have to stand in line to receive treatment? Or get approval from someone in Washington before getting a knee replacement or filling a prescription for the latest diabetes medication?

Access to quality care and the comfort of a familiar physician aren’t the only things on Minnesotans’ minds. With trillion dollar price tags becoming almost commonplace in Washington, American families are worried about what all this spending means for their jobs — and their children — and their children’s children.

No wonder Americans are scared. Health care reform is being imposed upon them, rather than developed with them, and the potential costs are far too high. And sadly — monetary costs are only part of the picture.

Many are concerned that Democrats’ plans may cost patients the right to see their family doctor or have any input into a life-altering — if not life-saving — medical treatment. They also fear, and rightly so, that it may cost them their jobs, a devastating prospect in an economy that has already lost 6.9 million jobs since this recession began.

When it comes to health care reform, Minnesotans do not want speeches from their elected leaders, they want solutions. When the president urged Congress to pursue bipartisan solutions, majority leadership in Congress responded with ardent defense of partisan legislation crafted behind closed doors. At more than 1,000 pages, it is complicated, convoluted, and quite simply will not work.

It’s time to press the “reset” button.

This issue is far too important to be determined by partisan battles. There are solid, commonsense ideas members of all political stripes can coalesce around as we seek to stop unnecessary political bickering and formulate a solution that puts the American people ahead of government ambition.

For example, most of my colleagues recognize that not all high school and college graduates are immediately able to find a job that offers health care coverage after graduation. By allowing dependents to remain on their parents’ health policies up to the age of 25, the number of uninsured Americans could be reduced by up to 7 million. That is a pretty good start if you ask me.

It is also important to recognize the role employers, large and small, play in providing insurance. I think we can all see the value in helping the 10 million uninsured Americans who are eligible, but not enrolled in, an employer-sponsored plan get health care coverage by encouraging employers to move to opt-out, rather than opt-in rules.

I also think we should help small employers reduce the administrative costs of providing coverage to their employees by establishing a new small business tax credit.

Washington faces an enormous opportunity. The President can work with Congress — Democrats and Republicans — in pursuit of areas in which we have found agreement, or he can focus on the areas that divide us in a continued embrace of the politics of the past. I agree with the president that the status quo is unsustainable.

The folks running Washington should hit the “reset” button on health care reform and stopping the government takeover that threatens American jobs.

John Kline of Lakeville, a Republican, represents Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 at 10:18 am and is filed under Failed Policy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.