Issues

Health Care

Health care is traditionally one of the most emotionally charged issues Congress has to deal with because it – either directly or indirectly – affects every American.

Dan Burton

Principles

Americans have the best doctors, the best hospitals, the most innovative medical technology, and the best scientists in the world. Our challenge and opportunity is to build around them the best health care system. The key to real reform is to give control of the health care system to patients and their health care providers, not bureaucrats in government or business.

Dan's Record

Universal Health Care

Health care is traditionally one of the most emotionally charged issues Congress has to deal with because it – either directly or indirectly – affects every American. With more and more Americans being classified as uninsured or underinsured we are once again hearing the refrain that it is the responsibility of the federal government to make sure that all Americans have health care coverage. I believe that the American people deserve affordable, accessible, high-quality healthcare. And providing all eligible individuals residing in the United States with free health care; including all medically necessary care, such as primary care and prevention, prescription drugs, emergency care, and mental health services is a very noble and compassionate goal; but achieving that goal through creation of a government-run health care system has already been soundly rejected by the American people and the United States Congress.

Many people fear, and I believe rightly, that a government-run health care system will take away their freedom of choice in medical care, force them to pay huge new "health-care" taxes (such as the increases in personal income, payroll and self-employment taxes included in many Democrat national healthcare proposals), and eliminate medical and personal privacy. Americans do not want government attorneys and government bureaucrats - who are not medically trained - controlling what treatments and tests their doctor will be allowed to give them.

Three Steps to cut costs in Health Care

Whether we extend health care coverage through private sector initiatives or through government programs we are simply delaying the inevitable unless we tackle the true problem- the skyrocketing cost of health care in this country. I believe we can make a serious dent in health care costs if we focus on three initiatives:

Ending the medical liability crisis through reasonable limits on non-economic and punitive damages.
Reducing overhead through updated medical billing codes and greater use of digital health care records.
Lowering prescription drug costs through an international market regime (sometimes called reimportation) – with appropriate safeguards to ensure the pedigree of the drugs from manufacturer to consumer.

On Slowing Cost Increases & Combating Fraud in Medicare

The Government Accountability Office has designated Medicare as a high-risk program since 1990, in part because the program's size and complexity make it especially vulnerable to fraud, waste, and abuse. In 2009, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)--the agency that administers Medicare--estimated the program loses about $24.1 billion dollars annually to waste, fraud and abuse – other outside experts have pegged the number closer to $60 Billion annually. Fraud is a serious problem that must be solved. If we focus on 1) attacking fraud more aggressively, 2) reducing overhead through updated medical billing codes and greater use of digital health care records, 3) lowering prescription drug costs through an international market regime (sometimes called reimportation) – with appropriate safeguards to ensure the pedigree of the drugs from manufacturer to consumer, and 4) ending the medical liability crisis through reasonable limits on non-economic and punitive damages, we can slow the growth in Medicaid and Medicare costs without substantial structural changes to either program.