Health Care Can Heal Economy

Legislators, designated executive branch officials, and high court justices recently heard a second State of the Commonwealth address. The strength of the speech lay in Gov. Bob McDonnell's commitment to reform. He also maintained his unwavering vow to not raise taxes.

There will be reductions, consolidations, and possible elimination of state agencies and non-core services. These actions are part of our reality when closing a $4 billion budget gap.

Investments for tourism, economic development, and job creation are imminent -- as are cuts to state government in an effort to right-size, streamline, and make the ship of state sail with less drag.

While the content of the speech was inclusive and the tone without fault, the governor could not address all aspects of reforming state government or offer -- just yet -- direction for specific cuts or the strategies behind any job creation initiatives. To complement his commonwealth of opportunities vision, I suggest another opportunity lies in our robust economic engine of health care, a subject not addressed last week.

While preserving Virginia's AAA bond rating and retaining our superlative for being the best state in the nation for business, I ask the governor and newly designated Secretary of Health and Human Resources (and respected orthopedic surgeon) Bill Hazel to establish a new objective for being the No. 1 state in the nation for quality, affordable, and accessible health care.

A strong health care system could be a tool for Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, as the chief job creation officer, and the Governor's Economic Development and Job Creation Commission, to use as they court new businesses.

Virginia's health care system is well above average on quality, but we should be the best. We score in the highest quartile on quality and patient satisfaction measures. Virginia is in the lowest quartile in insurance premium costs for the private, small-group market (used by small business).

Virginia ranks in the lowest 10 percent of states on Medicare spending per beneficiary. In spite of Virginia's high-quality, efficient -- and cost-efficient -- health care system, there are still opportunities to improve cost and quality performance.

Safety-net services will see greater demand as economic recovery continues. Nearly $2 billion of our budget gap relates to Medicaid and is significant in its role as the insurer of last resort. Most Medicaid spending is focused on the aged and disabled.

Virginia's Medicaid program is extraordinarily lean: 48th in Medicaid spending per capita; 45th in Medicaid spending as a share of the state budget. Every dollar cut from Virginia's Medicaid program results in a $2 loss to providers. There are no silver-bullet strategies for cutting Medicaid spending in the near term that are sufficient to address the state's budget woes without doing further serious harm.

So how do we generate the support necessary to preserve safety nets? We must create jobs and pursue opportunities for economic development.

How does health care relate to this topic du jour? Virginia's health care organizations are major and dependable employers; these jobs are particularly important during periods of economic downturn.

The economic impact on Virginia from hospitals and health systems generated more than $30 billion in spending throughout the state, with close to 200,000 jobs, many of which are high-paying.

In certain areas of this great state, our hospitals are the largest private employer. For instance, in Martinsville -- where unemployment is widespread and reached 20.2 percent early last year -- one out of every six persons is employed by the Martinsville hospital.

In the Richmond region, hospitals have a $10 billion economic impact and create more than 40,000 jobs. Health care jobs are growing due to an aging population and increased demand for services. Other than jobs for doctors, good jobs also exist in nursing homes, home health organizations, hospice programs, for first responders, and among various allied health professions.

In addition to the budget, several legislative initiatives are moving through the Assembly related to health policy.

Mandated benefits eliminate choice and impair the free market. They also drive up costs. In order to create competition and lower costs, I introduced two bills. My House Bill 726 requires Virginia's Special Advisory Commission on Mandated Health Insurance Benefits to review mandated health insurance benefits to assess their social and financial impact and their medical efficacy. The bill requires the commission to submit a schedule of evaluations to the standing committees that have jurisdiction over health insurance matters.

House Bill 720 creates health insurance choice by allowing health insurance policies from insurers in other states to be sold here in Virginia.

Additionally, HB 722 presents a declaration of rights for Virginians to elect insurance coverage by providing that a resident of the commonwealth shall not be required to obtain or maintain a policy of individual health insurance coverage. This applies regardless of whether the person is eligible for health insurance coverage under any policy or program provided by or through his employer or a plan sponsored by the commonwealth or the federal government.

The measure also states that no resident shall be liable for any penalty, assessment, fee, or fine as a result of his failure to procure or obtain health insurance coverage.

Please visit http://legis.virginia.gov to review these bills and others pertaining to health care and other facets of the Virginia state legislature.

Christopher Peace is a Republican who represents Virginia's 97th House of Delegates District, which includes parts of Caroline, Hanover, Henrico, King and Queen, King William, New Kent, and Spotsylvania counties.