Congressman Mike Rogers
 
Reducing Healthcare Costs

Healthcare is the number one concern facing Michigan job providers.  To allow small businesses to create jobs and expand in Michigan, I am using my position on the Health Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee to advance several pieces of legislation to reduce the high premiums and out-of-pocket expenses for health care, extend health coverage to the uninsured and encourage consumer-driven reforms.

Heath Savings Accounts

In 2003, I worked to create Health Savings Accounts. Employers and individuals can now contribute pre-tax dollars for future medical expenses. These accounts belong to individuals and unused contributions can roll over from year to year. HSA eligible plans now cover more than one million people and are particularly attractive to individuals and small businesses that previously lacked insurance. 37% of individual policies were purchased by people who were previously uninsured and 27% of small employers HSA-eligible plans did not previously offer coverage.

Using Heath Savings Accounts as a model,  I developed legislation to create similar accounts under Medicaid.  This legislation, which was recently signed into law, will not only ensures America's vulnerable populations receive needed care, but also places them on the road to self-sufficiency.  This health care savings plan will benefit several Medicaid populations by empowering them to make their own health care decisions and giving them more flexibility in the health care services they can access. 

Pain Care Legislation

Pain is a major cost to the American economy as 50 million Americans are partially or totally disabled by pain.  Reduced productivity due to pain costs employers $78 billion per year and 22% of work-related injuries involve back pain.  I authored legislation to coordinate and create regional pain centers across the country to research pain management, establish treatment protocols to disseminate to practitioners and medical schools and develop an awareness campaign to educate the public. Last month in Lansing, I held field hearing of the Health Subcommittee on the subject of pain and I am working to include pain language in legislation to reauthorize the National Institutes of Health which is currently moving though Energy and Commerce Committee.

Medical Liability Reform

In the last five years, total medical liability costs jumped 47% to a record high of nearly $27 billion. The median trial award for medical liability claims is $1.2 million and two-thirds of medical liability trial awards exceed $250,000.   Medical malpractice lawsuits are out of control and driving up the cost of health coverage for individuals and businesses.   Dollars that are spent on inflating health care costs are dollars that cannot be spent expanding small businesses and creating jobs.

In Congress, I am working to advance legislation to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden that legal liability places on the health care delivery system. This legislation places reasonable caps on non-economic and punitive damages and requires lawsuits to be filed no later than three years after the date of the injury or one year after discovering the alleged malpractice, whichever comes first.

Association Health Plans

Small business owners, their families and employees are among the largest group of Americans without health insurance.  Without the negotiating power of large corporations, small business pay more for health insurance plans than large employers.  In response, I cosponsored legislation to create association health plans (AHPs). AHPs are group health plans sponsored by trade, industry, professional, chamber of commerce, or similar business associations that allow small employers to band together and use their collective power to offer coverage to their employees.