Why Healthcare Reform Matters

Open support of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in Republican circles is as close as you get to political blasphemy as it comes.  But why is this?  Is it solely because of the expansion of the federal government?  Funding a law that we can’t afford?  Or is it simply party politics?  The reason differs amongst many Republicans, from centrists to Tea Party members.  One thing we can all agree on is that healthcare needs work and the ACA isn’t the answer.  Now is a time that the Republicans can position themselves as the solution.  They can do this if they change the framework of the argument.  The Republicans need to change the conversation about healthcare reform in a way that most aligns with the conservative movement.  The argument needs to focus on how double digit increases in healthcare costs destroy the possibility of fiscal conservatism in all levels of government.

In the 2014 budget for the City of Pittsburgh, funds for employee benefits increased by 7.5% which is roughly $10.7 million.  This is the only part of the budget that saw such a substantial increase in the allocation of funds.  Our city is by no means in a Detroit’esque situation, but we are also not in a position to be spending frivolously.  Aggregate wages for the region did not increase 7.5% across the board, so it’s quite obvious the taxable base will not grow to the point of this being a revenue neutral increase.  Annual increases of this magnitude are not sustainable and poorly allocate funds away from revenue growing projects like new construction and infrastructure.  The city is living hand to mouth, and this is partly attributed to egregious increases in healthcare costs.

One would hope that this unfortunate misallocation of funds would be isolated to just the city budget, but it gets worse.  The 2013 Pittsburgh Public School Budget saw an increase in actual expenditures of 13% in employee benefits year to year from 2012, promptly followed by a 7.8% increase in 2013 expenditures to the 2014 budget.  That translates to roughly a $16.7 million increase in two years!  Think about how tremendous it would be if those funds were allocated to renovating our schools, purchasing new books and computers, and even increasing compensation for our teachers.  If accomplished, the relationship between decreasing the cost of healthcare and more adequately funding our schools can be a game changer in the current political arena for whichever party can properly execute.

These two examples demonstrate the importance of healthcare reform.  These are just two examples, in just one city.  Cities, states, and school districts all across the country are experiencing similar and in some cases more severe budgetary constraints.  If we can’t curb this trend and find a way to decrease the cost of healthcare, then we are signing ourselves up for a generation of even higher taxes and an even more dysfunctional government.  If you believe in fiscal conservatism, then it’s imperative that you support healthcare reform that goes deeper than what the ACA claims it will do.  This is the only way we can keep the lights on in our schools, and maintain the solvency of our government.