SPRINGFIELD, Mo. —
Paul Ryan’s presence on the presidential ticket has made Medicare a central campaign issue.
While the Ryan/Romney plan is better than Obama’s health care plan, they all have one thing in common: They leave decision-making power in the hands of Congress and Washington bureaucrats. That’s a mistake.
We need to take the decision away from Congress — and we have already started. In 2011, with the help of my colleagues in the Missouri House and Senate, I passed the Health Care Compact, which grants our state permission to partner with other states and regain control over health care, including both Medicaid and Medicare. It would provide block grants at the current level of spending. In addition it creates the framework necessary for purchasing health insurance across state lines.
The Health Care Compact is an alternative to a one-size-fits-all solution from Washington.
States could choose different solutions. Vermont might opt for a single-payer program, while Texas could choose a market-based system. Six states have joined Missouri and have adopted the Health Care Compact.
Regardless of who wins the presidential election this November, Congress should allow the now seven states in the compact the flexibility to do what is right and responsible for their residents.
Rep. Eric Burlison
Springfield
Opinion
Your View: Alternative
- Opinion
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Other Views: Conflicts in SEC
Money talks. In the continuing dispute over the all-too-cozy relationship between the people who create and sell financial products and the people who rate their risk, the money says: Shut up and let us do what we want.
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Phill Brooks, columnist: Missouri Senate did what Founding Fathers had in mind
George Washington once described the Senate as being like a saucer in which you pour coffee or tea.
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Our View: Fixing failure
Some 1,200 injured workers will finally get the payments they are owed. In its final week in session, Missouri’s General Assembly, through bipartisan efforts, passed a solution to address the insolvency of the state’s Second Injury Fund.
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Herb B. Kuhn, guest columnist: Delaying Medicaid reform could hurt rural Missouri
The Missouri Legislature missed a rare opportunity in the just-ended session to transform Medicaid and make a real difference in the lives and health of hundreds of thousands of our neighbors. Rural Missouri has the most to lose from the legislature’s failure to act.
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Kevin Wilson, guest columnist: When fear wins out, so do the terrorists
I’m going to make a bold statement that’s sure to draw a lot of comments, but hear me out before reaching for the keyboard to type a rebuttal.
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Sandie Morgan, guest columnist: Unions benefit workers more than they may know
In a recent guest column (Globe, May 14), Elliott Denniston made the case for Missouri not to become a right-to-work state, and he made this case very well.
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Marta Mossburg, columnist: Maybe government is tyrannical after all
Less than two weeks ago President Obama stood in front of graduates from The Ohio State University and told them to reject those who warn of government tyranny.
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Our View: Spying on us
Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a foiled terrorist plot.
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Our View: Pass on the legacy
Forty hungry members of the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry began gathering corn at the Rader farm near the village of Sherwood when they were ambushed by a guerrilla band of about 70 Southern sympathizers.
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Our View: Big Brother looms large
The federal government, working under the cloak of secrecy, has been having a heyday at the expense of all Americans.
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