Pickens County Tea Party Discusses HealthCare Issues

With the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010 (ACA or ObamaCare), healthcare in the United States continues to be a hotly debatable issue and of great concern to all citizens. ACA has created problem after problem as it slowly unfolds in each state; and Georgia is no exception. Are there any solutions or alternatives to the crisis being created by PPACA?
Here is one that is being considered by many of our 50 states: What is the HealthCare Compact? The Health Care Compact is an interstate compact that returns responsibility and authority for the healthcare system to the states. It gets Congress and lobbyists out of the business of controlling the healthcare industry, and empowers states to create their own healthcare system. It keeps the tax money currently collected by the Federal Government in a state and uses those funds to pay for healthcare in that state, creating greater accountability and more flexibility for each state government.

The Health Care Compact does not contain any healthcare related provisions, but rather provides a legal framework within which states can create their own healthcare systems. It essentially provides a permanent waiver to each member state to create whatever healthcare regulations the legislature deems best for the citizens of that state.

The Health Care Compact creates healthcare funding rights for the member states. One way in which this structure can be implemented is by re-directing federal income and payroll taxes collected within each state to a trust account for that state. This structure protects Medicare and Medicaid funding by allowing member states to access federal tax revenues directly and without strings attached.

The combination of a secure funding stream and maximum flexibility for state legislators will create the conditions for multiple solutions to emerge to the healthcare crisis. Rather than relying upon the monopoly of the federal bureaucracy, each state will compete to find the right combination of taxes, subsidies, and direct support to meet its current and future needs.

You can learn more about The Health Care Compact, which has been approved in Georgia, by participating in a Healthcare Compact Training Webinar: This Thursday, May 1, a special webinar on the Healthcare Compact will be conducted nationwide. Leo Linbeck III will be answering questions about the way the Health Care Compact functions. You can access the webinar at this registration link: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/643752504.

Then on Thursday, May 8th, join our tea party for more healthcare and other discussions, at the Pickens County Round Table Luncheon. We meet on the 2nd Thursday of each month at local Jasper restaurants. In May, we will have our luncheon meeting at Rocco’s Pub on Hwy 515 in Jasper. We gather for lunch at 11:30 AM and the discussions begin at 12 Noon. For more information, please contact Penny at douglasb@tds.net .