In 2007 the legislature created the HEALTH INSURANCE PARTNERSHIP (HIP). The concept involves creating a pool for small businesses to help their employees with their premiums. The Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 Yakima Herald quotes Rep Bill Hinkle as saying that the goal has disintegrated into “just another government program” that will tax people who already are paying for their health insurance in order to extend coverage to those who can’t afford it.
Let’s use a little Hinkle logic. How about we eliminate insurance coverage to all elected officials? After all, it’s just another government program that taxpayers are supporting while having to pay for their own insurance. Maybe an initiative is in order here.
The fact is our health care premiums reflect the burden the unisured are putting on the system. With health care accessible to all, the premiums for all should be lower. It’s just like auto insurance. Our premiums reflect the uninsured motorist which causes us all to pay more.
The health care crisis will never be solved by narrow minded and self indulgent Republicans! The debate should center on the most effective and cost efficient health care for ALL. Republican lawmakers seem to be paranoid about taxes and equate any premium or fee as a tax. Their overly simplistic logic is rooted in their rigid ideology, limiting creative and sensible solutions to problems. Republican lawmakers will become an endangered species if they continue their reactionary ways instead of becoming part of the solutions. I think a few Democratic victories in Eastern Washington will go a long way to helping Republicans shed their narrow blinders.