By Lon Wilson

Health care reform is at the top of the priority list for President Barack Obama and Congress - it should also be at the top of your list.

It is a major undertaking and there will be no easy answers or quick fixes. The health care system is too important and is too big of an expense for government, businesses and American families.

For more than 20 years, I have been actively involved in helping people get access to quality health care. I know and intimately understand the health care system - the good, the bad and the ugly.

As a family man and a small business owner, I have seen firsthand how health insurance can make all the difference for an individual, a family, a business. I pray for the day when all Americans' have the same access to the best health care in the world.

The health insurance industry is very competitive, which is a good thing because it drives innovation, cost reductions and added value to employers and their staff. Competition has raised the bar for all of us.

Unfortunately, President Obama and many in Congress are calling for a public plan that would "compete" with private insurance plans using Medicare payment rates.

According to a study by the Lewin Group, a government plan offering Medicare-level reimbursement rates, would result in 119.1 million Americans losing coverage. This would essentially close down the private insurance industry as we know it, reducing innovation, lowering quality and increasing the complexity and cost of our health care system.

Alaska is a great example of how unsuccessful a public-plan based on Medicare rates would be as evidenced by the large number of family physicians who have closed their doors to Medicare recipients.

A government-run plan is not the answer to the health care problem. A better solution is a universal health proposal where everyone regardless of health, age or income can purchase private insurance.

This can and should be accomplished using the existing employer-based system by mandating coverage for everyone, requiring private insurers to accept any individual regardless of pre-existing conditions, and providing subsidies for low-income individuals and small business.

Lon Wilson is president of the Wilson Agency, a locally owned independent employee benefits and group insurance brokerage firm.