Health Care

As I travel around the Third District, I find that health care is often at the top of people's list of concerns, whether young or old, rural or urban. Health care costs continue to increase at an alarming rate, bringing premiums to unprecedented levels while the number of uninsured Americans has risen to over 47 million. In addition, many areas now find themselves experiencing a shortage of health care professionals, both doctors and nurses. Health care is an issue that affects all Americans, and affordability and accessibility is crucial to the health of our nation and its citizens.

It is critical that Congress focus on making health care more accessible and affordable while increasing the number of insured Americans. We are fortunate to have the most advanced health care system in the world, and we must continue to create and enact innovative measures that improve our system to ensure that quality health care is accessible to all Americans.

Representing the Third District of Oklahoma, I am keenly aware of the impact the shortage of health care professionals has on every individual’s access to health care. I will continue to support programs like Title VII that provide much needed funding to train providers and public health professionals in interdisciplinary settings to respond to the needs of special and underserved populations. Our communities must have the ability to provide basic health services to our citizens.

Additionally, many seniors are finding that doctors are no longer accepting new Medicare patients. This is because Medicare’s reimbursement rates for physicians are too low. Congress is currently working to find a long-term solution to the scheduled cuts doctors continue to face while ensuring that they receive accurate reimbursement rates. This will keep more doctors in the Medicare program overall, and higher reimbursements rates will specifically help in low-profit margin areas like rural Oklahoma, where doctors see a disproportionate share of Medicare patients. And while these reimbursement rates are targeted at Medicare beneficiaries, the positive effects will extend to all patients. In small-town Oklahoma, losing even one local doctor can be a disaster.

Congress must work to build on and improve the health care quality in American by expanding the use of health information technology and electronic medical records. Health information technology allows comprehensive management of medical information and its secure exchange between health care consumers and providers. As a result, the delivery of health care to consumers is more efficient and cost effective.

I support new and innovative efforts like the creation of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) that improve access and work to drive down costs. HSAs allow all health care consumers to set aside money, tax-free, to pay for health care expenses. This money can deposited into an interest-bearing account, rolls over from year to year, and can be used to pay expenses for yourself or your family. This takes health care our of the hands of bureaucrats and insurance companies, and puts it back into the hands of ordinary people who want to make their own decisions about their own health care. More than 3 million Americans have enrolled in HSA high-deductible health plans and many more are expected to in the next year. Over 1 million participants were previously uninsured and now can finally afford basic health insurance and save for future expenses.

Press Releases Related to Health Care

• (6/27/2008)  Lucas Applauds New Community-Based Outpatient Clinics in Enid, Altus