Last week, Governor Northam chose to veto a bill that would have helped many households that have been saddled by higher insurance premiums and higher deductibles since the passage of “Obamacare.” His veto came because he has been misled into believing that this bill would do harm to the expansion of Medicaid, which passed under him in his first year as governor. This is his second year of vetoing bills that better serve the public.

Seeing health care spiraling out of control, Republican members of the Virginia General Assembly have tried to address some of the issues. We based that plan on the question of why should insurance be higher for some groups than larger companies. Currently, the most expensive policies are those that are sold to small businesses. Those businesses are caught between having to compete for employees with larger companies while maintaining a competitive place in the market.

The vetoed bill would have allowed small businesses to join larger organizations such as the Virginia Chamber of Commerce or some other trade organization that would allow those small businesses to negotiate policies at rates similar to large business.

The governor seems to have developed the mentality of the Democrats in Washington — that government knows what’s better for you and your family than you do. This is despite the evidence that we have seen in most health care decisions that come out of Washington.

It hasn’t worked in the Veteran’s Administration, where the socialized model is a failure in both cost and delivery of services. Just ask our veterans. From broken systems to indifferent bureaucrats, the VA system creaks and groans, and always has.

It hasn’t worked with Medicaid, which is a financially unsustainable program initially designed to help the nation’s poor, yet now covers a staggering 75 million citizens or others living in America. This includes many new enrollments signed up through “Obamacare”. While states and the federal government split the cost of the program, Medicaid has now grown to nearly 25 percent of state budgets, imperiling other state needs such as education. In addition, the Government Accountability Office reports that $60 billion, or roughly 10 percent of Medicaid’s budget, is lost to fraud and abuse (others think it is much more). As well, the delivery of service is shrinking rapidly as nearly one-third of doctors refuse to take Medicaid patients because of its unrealistic payment schedule.

Nor does it work in Medicare, where the average lifetime contributions paid through taxes only cover about 40 percent of the average recipient’s medical expenditures once in the Medicare system. This in spite of two decades of reforms and price controls on doctors, hospitals and medical providers. Meanwhile, Medicare continues on an unsustainable trend line toward insolvency. According to an analyst report, the program will be insolvent by 2026 which will require limiting services or massive tax hikes.

The question is simple: Why can’t we try freedom and personal choice, doing what we know works best?

Now is the time to reclaim innovation and turn to the marketplace, allowing citizens and their employers the option to manage their health requirements, tailored to their own needs. If re-elected to serve the people, I will continue to push for policy that helps families and small businesses.

FRANK RUFF JR. serves as the 15th District state senator in Virginia. He can be reached at Sen.Ruff@verizon.net, (434) 374-5129 or P.O. Box 332, Clarksville, VA 23927.