Page 28 - Flathead Beacon // 3.23.16

LIKE I WAS SAYING 30 AMERICAN RURAL 30 DRAWING BOARD 31 Viewpoints
LETTERS
Where are the Old Western Virtues of Independence?
I recently enjoyed riding Amtrak’s Empire Builder from Wisconsin across the plains to White sh to revel in the skiing and vibe of Big Mountain. I was, however, startled by the number of opinion pieces in the Beacon arguing that it is a good thing that about 30 per- cent of your state is managed like a fed- eral reservation for Montanans. These writers seem to imply that Montanans are either less competent than the Feds or too corrupt to manage much of their state land.
As much as I value national parks, I doubt that people in our state, where the Feds control 5.6 percent of the land, would cede management of our large number of state parks and forests to the Feds. Given the present trajectory in Washington, I fear that the days of benign federal neglect are over and that you have more to fear from the federal mismanagement than we from state mismanagement.
In fact, as I passed through the farm- land of the Great Plains, I was glad that the Homestead Act has put so much of our breadbasket into the hands of pri- vate farmers. Would those of us who like to eat really want farmers and ranchers to serve as surfs on vast Midwestern federal estates?
If even Montanans have lost the old western virtues of independence and prefer to rely on the Feds to manage so much of their state, what hope is there for wimpy easterners.
Art DeJong Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Give Rural Residents More Healthcare Choices
Imagine you are a shing rod manu- facturer. You have spent years learning how to craft high-quality, light-weight rods and now want to start selling your goods. However, the moment you open your shop a government o cial drops by and gives you a notice: before you start selling you must apply for permission from a panel of bureaucrats and repre- sentatives from the big sporting goods store down the street. They expect you to demonstrate an ambiguous “need” prior to granting you permission to open for business.
Replace “ shing rods” with “basic healthcare,” and that’s just what many doctors face in Montana, thanks to our monopolistic “Certi cate of Need” (CON) laws.
A recent study from the non-partisan
Mercatus Center explains how CON laws across the country hamper access to a ordable healthcare services – par- ticularly in rural communities. CON laws are associated with 30 percent fewer rural hospitals and 13 percent fewer rural ambulatory surgical ser- vices per 100,000 rural residents. Less hospitals and ambulatory surgical services means Montanans have less options for routine medical procedures.
CON laws put industry planners ahead of the needs of the community by requiring doctors and other health care providers to demonstrate “need” and obtain approval from bureaucrats and special interests prior to building new facilities and providing new services.
CON laws were rst introduced to big hospitals and nursing homes in New York in 1964. When existing hospitals began to realize the nancial bene t from this kind of monopoly protection, the American Hospital Association began a national lobbying campaign to pass CON programs in other states. Montana followed suit in 1975.
In Montana, CON laws regulate the number of outpatient centers for ambu- latory surgical services (ASCs) for coun- ties with a population of 20,000 or less, hitting rural areas the hardest. Home health agency services, inpatient chem- ical dependency facilities, intermediate care facilities for persons with mental disabilities, and nursing homes are also subject to these arti cial and unneeded restrictions.
The loss of rural hospitals and other medical facilities means less competi- tion, reduced access to care, and higher prices. That’s why even the federal government recommends scrapping these laws. In 2004, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Depart- ment of Justice both claimed that CON programs actually contribute to ris- ing prices because they inhibit com- petitive markets. States such as Flor- ida, Virginia, and North Carolina have already begun working to free patients from many of their CON laws. Besides increasing access to care, these reforms will encourage greater economic growth in their respective economies as more medical providers are able to enter the market.
The Institute for Justice (IJ) found that CON laws substantially discour- age interstate commerce. In particular, IJ pointed to Virginia’s CON laws, which prevents $100 million of medical imag- ing equipment from being imported.
Whether you are trying to sell sh- ing rods or outpatient x-rays, estab- lished monopolies should not hamper your freedom to provide valuable ser- vices. Our next legislature and governor
should pass Certi cate of Need reforms that roll back these restrictions and increase access to a ordable healthcare.
David Herbst, state director Americans for Prosperity
The Cost of Taking in Refugees
One of the many concerns about bringing refugees from Syria into Mon- tana is the cost. As America looks at growing de cits, and a national debt around $18,000,000,000,000, and growing, we have to ask ourselves, can we justify this added expense?
First N.G.O.s, or nowadays “Volags” (volunteer agencies), actually get paid to import refugees. The International Res- cue Committee, for one, receives tens of millions of dollars per year from the federal government. Additional funding derives from such foundations as The Ford Foundation, The Clinton Foun- dation, and George Soro’s Open Bor- ders Foundation. It adds up to about 60 percent of tax dollars, and 40 percent of foundation money. Multiply this by the number of organizations, and it is a big- money operation.
The Center for Immigration Studies puts the cost of relocating one refugee into the U.S. at $12,800 per year. Many of them are low skilled, don’t speak English, and have a hard time assimi- lating. So there is training in new skills, English classes, Medicare, or refugee medical assistance.
In most cases, these refugees histor- ically remain on public assistance for decades, adding to an already bloated welfare state. It is not fair to the average U.S. citizen who has not seen wages rise for some time, yet watches costs rise for housing, medical costs, and food.
Interestingly, the cost of asylum in a nearby Middle Eastern country, where the culture is similar, people speak their language, and where it would be much cheaper to repatriate them after the war has ended is about $1,200 per year. One of the best reasons to leave them in the Middle East is because we can help so many more people for the same money.
For these and many other reasons, Americans across the country poll above 60 percent in opposing bringing in Mid- dle Eastern refugees. When a majority of the electorate in a Democratic repub- lic desire a policy for national security, it is the job of its representatives to imple- ment that policy.
Doug Miller Kalispell
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MARCH 23, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
LETTERS
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