Health Care

There is much discussion these days concerning how to best reform our health care system. While there are some very real problems with our health care system, it is important to recognize that the United States still has the best health care system in the world. The majority of recent discussions concerning health care have been focused on the notion of universal health care coverage. There is a distinct difference between "universal coverage" and "universal access." "Universal coverage" means that in practice the federal government decides what medical care would be available to whom and when. Such a system will over time become similar to the European socialized systems. This kind of system will undermine the quality of health care and drive up the cost of care for all taxpayers.

I believe that all Americans should have the freedom to choose their own health care alternatives. Americans should have a consumer-driven system that allows for "universal access" to quality health care with little interference by the federal government. There are several steps that I believe can be taken to improve access and reduce the excessive cost of the health system without undermining the quality of care that we expect as Americans. However, I also believe that in order to distinguish "good" health care policy from 'bad" health care policy, it is important to establish basic principles that all Americans should expect as a component to a strong and vital health care system.

The Principles of Good Health Care Legislation:

• Promotes the doctor-patient relationship and ensures that the patient has a medical advocate.
  
  
• Encourages medical decisions be made by the patient based on medical necessity rather than rationing by a bureaucrat.
  
  
• Encourages patients to practice healthy lifestyles. Such practices can be implemented through education and financial incentives.
  
  
• Encourages the implementation of electronic medical records that are interoperable and portable while ensuring that the patient's medical history is kept confidential and not released without the patient's consent.
  
  
• Encourages transparency of medical costs and quality so that patients have an incentive to "price shop" in the health care market.
  
  
• Prohibits any particular entity, government or private, from obtaining a monopoly of medical services in any given market. Due to a lack of competition, monopolies have no incentives to be efficient, adapt new technology, or restructure.
  
  
• If an individual is currently insured, they cannot be dropped by a health insurance company due to a pre-existing condition.
  
  
• Rewards health care providers based on the value of service, not the volume of procedures performed.
  
  
• Provides tax incentives to encourage patients to obtain catastrophic insurance.
  
  
• Encourages health insurance to be portable from job to job, and allow people to be able to get the same tax break when they buy insurance on their own as they do when they get coverage at work.
  
  
• Encourages preventive care through regular exams and check-ups.
  
  
• Turns illegal immigrants who have received free medical treatment over to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
  

Based on these on these principles, I have co-sponsored a variety of different pieces of legislation that will improve our health care system. I have supported legislation that allows consumers to purchase health plans across state lines, thereby allowing the consumer greater flexibility in shopping for a health care policy. I have supported legislation that would create association health plans (AHPs). In effect, this would enable small business owners to join together with other small businesses in purchasing health plans as large corporations are allowed to do. I also favor common sense legislation that reduces the number of frivolous lawsuits that currently contribute to the rising cost of health care. In addition, I have supported a variety of different proposals that would improve and expand the availability of Health Saving Accounts (HSAs), flexible spending accounts (FSAs), and tax credits to small businesses in order to improve health care access.