The recent congressional efforts to ram through legislation that will impact the life and health of every single citizen in the United States is ill-conceived and downright inhumane. I find it embarrassing as a legislator to see fellow legislators ignore what is best for American citizens in the name of appeasing campaign donors or just doing something for the sake of doing something.

Enough with the games. Enough with the gimmicks. Health care is not a commodity like a car or television. We cannot include health care into our normal economic mode of profit margins and supply and demand economics. Health care is about life and death and deserves a business model unto itself.

With that in mind, I believe the only real solution to the health care crisis in America is a real, honest and practical discussion about how we can repair our health care system for decades to come. I will be introducing a resolution in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives asking Congress to take the following steps:

1. Organize and appoint a national health care reform task force consisting of experts in every segment of our health care industry 30 days following the passage of this resolution.
2. Require that the task force complete its assessment within one year of formation.  The assessment shall include a report, which shall at a minimum:
   • Compile information pertinent to the health care industry that may be used to better understand health care costs and access to affordable, quality health care.
   • Determine the reasons for the high cost of health care in the United States by identifying the cost drivers including redundancy of service and excessive profit margins.
   • Determine the factors that contribute to health insurance market stability and affect health insurance premiums.
   • Make recommendations to Congress that would lower health care costs in the United States. 
3. During the assessment period, every discussion, presentation, evaluation and hearing must be completely transparent to the general public through audio, video and live broadcast.
4. Written recommendations and personal experiences by the general public including professionals within the health care system, business and all workers in the health care industry would be accepted and included in the overall evaluation and end result of the newly designed solutions.
5. Since the U.S. pays double for our health care compared to every other industrialized nation, one major goal is to reduce our cost by 10% each year until the U.S. is not more than 10% higher than the highest industrialized nation. This means if Germany is the 2^nd highest industrialized nation after the U.S. at $5,000 per capita, the U.S., at $10,000 per capita, must lower costs to be no higher than $5,500 per capita.
6. Once the taskforce has determined all the factors that contribute to the cost of health insurance, the stability of the market and the effect on health insurance premiums, the appropriate recommendations would be made to congress that would lower the health care costs in the United States and provide universal coverage for all Americans.

We can no longer afford the status quo. The price of health care is skyrocketing in America. It is unaffordable and has been unaffordable for the last 20 years and will continue to skyrocket until we take the steps necessary to stop it. No more finger pointing and passing the buck. The truth and facts that will be ascertained by this task force will reveal the countless problems with our present health care system and then provide solid evidence and factual information to develop lasting solutions. If you agree to this commonsense approach to create a truly quality health care system for all Americans at a cost comparable to all other industrialized nations of the world, then please click here to contact your senator and congressman.

Sincerely,

Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski