U.S. Senate candidate and Toppenish physician Dr. Raul Garcia, M.D. returned to The Morning Ride to outline what he sees as the biggest drivers of America’s soaring health-care costs — from administrative bloat to insurance red tape to federal mandates that push doctors into unnecessary testing. Garcia, who completed a health-policy fellowship studying systems around the world, said the U.S. model is “inefficient and administratively heavy,” especially compared to countries like Switzerland, where private insurers compete for customers under a streamlined, subsidized system. He described U.S. health care as bogged down by layers of bureaucracy, citing his own clinic’s experience with the state’s Labor & Industries payment process — repeatedly submitting bills only to have portions denied, resubmitted, and denied again. “It’s amazingly inefficient,” he said. Garcia also criticized insurance companies, drug-pricing practices, and federal treatment requirements that he says force physicians to “over-order” tests. At the same time, doctors worry about liability if they don’t follow those federal panels. The solution, Garcia argued, is real malpractice reform, better physician education, and clear best-practice standards that allow medical judgment without fear of lawsuits. Garcia also pushed back on claims that undocumented immigrants can’t get care, noting that federal EMTALA law requires every emergency room to treat all patients, regardless of insurance or immigration status. He said ER doctors never ask about legal status and treat everyone the same. With Congress preparing for a renewed health-care debate as part of the government-funding deal, Garcia says he’s willing to walk listeners through each broken piece of the system in the weeks ahead. “There are so many layers we need to fix,” he said, “and we need a system that actually works for patients — not administrators.”
Listen to Phil’s full conversation with Dr. Raul Garcia below:
