wilson health care immigration will be

Wilson: Health care, immigration, will be major issues in House

Health care and immigration will be the two major issues in the

Missouri House of Representatives during the 2008 session, according

to Rep. Kevin Wilson, R-Neosho.

In his latest weekly report, Wilson gave an overall assessment of the

two issues:

As we start the new session I know that two of the hot button items

are going to be illegal aliens and health care. I have written

extensively on both of these subjects over the last few months so I

am pretty sure that you know where I stand on them but I feel that

it is important to frame the discussion that will begin in earnest

in the state capitol.

On illegal aliens, I have always been of the belief that the

federal government should be taking the lead in addressing this

issue and I think that you hear from the presidential candidates

that they have finally heard the frustrations of the American

people. However, understanding the issue and taking action is two

different things and Washington has been hopelessly deadlocked on

getting anything done to solve this huge problem. That means it is

up to the individual states to fill the void left by Washington.

As I have stated in previous columns, I have been working very

closely with the Chairman of the House Special Committee on

Immigration and he has a comprehensive plan for legislation

addressing illegals in our state. But, don't expect an easy road

for any legislation addressing this problem. Even something as

common sense as getting a constitutional amendment on the ballot

making English the language of official proceedings in the state

faced tremendous pressure from certain groups.

Given the diverse makeup of our state I can never guarantee

anything being passed in the legislature. What I can promise is

that I will do everything I can to make sure that this issue is

addressed. I have heard your concerns and I share them and will

fight to do the right thing.

With regards to health care - what can I say? This is once again a

national issue with no easy answers but lots of questions and

concerns. I do, however, want to clarify what the issue really is.

When you hear national politicians talk about health care, they are

really talking about health insurance. Everyone in the United

States has access to health care. We have most likely the largest

charity system of health care in the world. Now, is it always the

most appropriate health care? No. Is it the most efficient and

effective? No. But, everyone does have access to health care. The

real issue is who pays for that health care and is it the best care

for the situation.

We have a continuum, if you will, of who pays and who doesn't. On

one end you have people who foot the entire bill for their health

care. Then you have folks who have insurance provided by their

employers and will most likely have to pay for part of that

insurance as well as deductibles and co-pays. Next you have

individuals who are on taxpayer subsidized state-provided insurance

and finally you have people who have no coverage at all and must

rely on emergency room visits when their health concerns reach a

crisis stage.

When you hear a politician talking about universal health care,

what that means is the government would take over administering

health care for everyone in the country. If you think that is a

good thing then you should look at the Canadian system where income

taxes are extremely high, folks still have co-pays and deductibles

and often come to the U.S. because they can't get into a Canadian

doctor.

Is our system perfect? By no means! And everyone involved plays a

role in the inefficiency - the hospitals, the doctors, the

insurance companies and sometimes even the consumers. But, I do not

want to see a government run program that will bring with it all

the bureaucracy and inefficiencies as most other government

programs. And, as I heard someone say - if you think health care is

expensive, just wait until it is free. Remember that ultimately

someone has to foot the bill and that is the American taxpayer.

So, what is the answer? I wish I had the answer. We have done many

things over the last couple of sessions to address incremental

changes in our systems to make health insurance more affordable and

available but much more needs to be done. Again, I can't promise a

silver bullet but as Chairman of the House Special Committee on

Health Insurance I will continue to work on legislation improving

the system. I would welcome your suggestions so please do not be

shy about letting my office know your thoughts and ideas on this.

Maybe, by working together with all the different groups we can get

a handle on this national crisis without creating yet another