OP-Ed: Dr. Hal Scherz: Stacey Abrams Is Wrong on Health Care, Wrong for Georgia

The following opinion piece is from Hal Scherz, M.D., the chief of urology at Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital in Atlanta, vice president of finance at Georgia Urology, and board secretary at Docs 4 Patient Care Foundation. While we are thankful for the submission, we at GeorgiaPOL don’t care to be pressured publicly on social media to publish pieces. This is being shared with our readers in spite of, not because of, that pressure.

Note: Dr. Scherz has written this in his own capacity and this article was not composed by nor endorsed by Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta/Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital.

Supporters and critics of Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams (D) can agree on at least two facts verified by public records and statements: Abrams favors the expansion of the state’s Medicaid program, and Abrams would like to see socialized health care in Georgia.

In addition, supporters and critics can agree that health care is too expensive, health insurance costs too much, and access to care is sparse for poor and rural communities. In fact, 70 percent of voters in battleground congressional districts rank health care as the most important election issue, topping the list, according to a recent CBS poll.

All this agreement should drive the conclusion that Abrams is wrong to push health care policies that drive costs higher while shriveling access. Because Abrams is wrong on health care, Abrams is the wrong choice to be Georgia’s next governor.

That Obamacare has failed or is failing few will deny. Today’s disagreement is not about whether the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is succeeding. The debate centers on whether President Donald Trump’s policies and party, or those of his predecessor, are to blame.

Eight-and-a-half years after former President Barack Obama signed ACA into law, Obamacare continues to obstruct the nation’s health care system. The federal government has not succeeded in finding a comprehensive solution.

Consequently, the best hope for Georgians is to explore state-based solutions. Such solutions require a chief executive who believes more in innovation and the free market than in government. These are not what Abrams believes in.

As governor, Abrams would push for Medicaid expansion under Obamacare. Georgia is one of 17 states that has rejected Medicaid expansion, primarily because of its high price tag. In 2016, Medicaid cost Georgia $9.8 billion, which is 22 percent of the state budget. Between 2012 and 2016, Medicaid costs have increased by 15 percent.

Expanding Medicaid to cover newly qualifying Georgians would cost an additional $4.5 billion over 10 years. This estimate may even be low, because the federal government could change the terms of the deal at any time. As things now stand, the federal government will pick up 100 percent of the costs of expansion until 2020, and then 90 percent thereafter. If the federal government later chooses to reduce its share of the costs, states that expanded Medicaid would be smacked with a crippling burden.

Georgia is already overburdened by its Medicaid program. Currently, the state faces a $300 million shortfall for Medicaid. This means officials must raid other programs, or raise taxes, to make up the difference.

The irony is that Medicaid, as it currently exists, is the worst possible coverage out there. One reason is because 25 percent of doctors do not treat patients on Medicaid. This means the only thing a Medicaid card gives some patients is an opportunity to wait in line for care.

Lack of access is why Medicaid recipients continue to use emergency rooms as their primary source of treatment. Since Medicaid expansion was implemented, ER visits have increased by 40 percent in states that took the expansion bait. Care obtained at the ER is more expensive and of poorer quality compared to having a regular doctor.

Instead of fixing Georgia’s deeply flawed Medicaid system, Abrams would double down on it.

Even more troubling is Abrams’ desire to move to socialized health care. Abrams supports Sanders’ Medicare for All plan, which would eliminate all current government health care programs—including Medicare—and roll them into a new federal program. Medicare as it currently exists would disappear. Seniors would have to trust federal bureaucrats to replace Medicare without dropping the benefits seniors have come to expect.

If Abrams gets her way, private health insurance would be outlawed. The price tag for this plan is estimated at more than $32 trillion over 10 years. History suggests costs would be even higher and would require enormous tax increases.

California, Colorado, and Vermont have recently rejected socialized health care plans like the one Abrams supports. Vermont even approved a single-payer plan, but its Democratic governor pulled the plug because it would have required $2.6 billion in additional taxes. Coloradans rejected a socialized health care ballot initiative in 2016 that would have caused taxes to increase by 10 percent. The Healthy California Act cannot get out of committee, because this socialized plan would cost taxpayers $400 billion annually.

Abrams believes solutions to Georgia’s problems are found in bigger government. When it comes to health care, this has not been the case anywhere—certainly not in Georgia.

Health care solutions must come from innovative private-sector innovators and a free market. Abrams rejects both, so Georgia must reject Abrams.