|
Untitled document
The United States has one of the most advanced and innovative health care systems in the world. But instead of enacting a government-run health care system under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) that will diminish choices and increase costs, I believe that market- and patient-based solutions that also cover pre-existing conditions will improve affordability and accessibility to health care for all Americans.
Among the measures I support include:
• Repealing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: I voted to repeal PPACA because this law has imposed burdensome mandates on individuals and small businesses, increased costs, and expanded bureaucratic control over our health care system. I have also voted to repeal sections of PPACA and am a cosponsor of legislation (H.R. 452) to repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board created under the law, which would leave seniors' health care decisions to an unelected board of bureaucrats who will decide how to reduce expenditures for the program through the rationing of care.
Instead, I'm working on solutions that will give Americans more choices in their health care decisions and keep costs down. Read on for more:
• Small Business Paperwork Deduction Repeal: I am an original cosponsor of legislation, which is now law (PL 112-9), that would eliminate the unnecessary paperwork burden placed on small businesses under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). This law repeals the requirement that all businesses file a 1099 tax form for any vendor with which they have $600 or more in yearly transactions under PPACA. This mandate would have stifled economic growth and job creation among our nation's top job creators: small businesses.
• Reforming Medical Liability Claims: I am a cosponsor of legislation (H.R. 5, the Help Efficient, Accessible, Low Cost, Timely Health Care (HEALTH) Act) that will enact limits on non-economic damages and set reasonable standards – not caps – for punitive damages without pre-empting any state statutory limit on compensatory or punitive damages. Doctors are often times forced to order additional and redundant tests and procedures to avoid potential litigation. This defensive medicine drives up the cost of health care for everyone and makes it more difficult for businesses to create jobs.
• Purchasing Insurance Across State Lines: I am an original cosponsor of legislation (H.R. 371, the Health Care Choice Act), that would allow individuals to purchase insurance across state lines. This will increase competition in the insurance marketplace and give individuals the opportunity to choose insurance that best suits their needs and those of their families.
• Covering Pre-Existing Conditions: Individuals should not be denied insurance coverage due to a pre-existing condition. By enacting meaningful, cost-saving reforms throughout our health care system, we will be able to provide the needed coverage to individuals where it is needed most.
• Health Savings Accounts: I support allowing individuals to contribute to tax-deductible health savings accounts to give individuals more control over their health spending.
• Tax Deductions: I support allowing individuals to deduct health insurance premiums from their taxes.
• Finding a Cure for Breast Cancer: Despite the significant advancements that have been made to better understand breast cancer, we are a long way off in finding a cure. That's why I am proud to support bipartisan legislation (the Accelerating the End of Breast Cancer Act, H.R. 3067) that will create a temporary commission to find ways to streamline research to avoid duplication of efforts, identify research advances not currently being examined, and create a pipeline to ensure the most promising projects receive funding. The legislation does not authorize any funding and sunsets the commission in 2020. One in eight women will develop breast cancer during her lifetime. By ensuring we target limited research dollars on the most promising projects, we will be that much closer to finding a cure and ending this disease once and for all.
• Finding Savings in Medicaid: I introduced bipartisan legislation (H.R. 3342) to encourage and incentivize states to use generic prescription drugs under Medicaid, saving the program millions of dollars every year. The bill will allow states to keep 50 percent of the savings generated by increasing generic drug substitution (currently, the federal government keeps whatever savings there are) and does not cost any money to implement. It is estimated that even a two percent increase in the use of generic drugs by Medicaid would save the program more than $1.3 billion annually, which will help to rein in out-of-control health care costs and reduce wasteful government spending.
• Helping Patients with Rare Diseases: I introduced legislation (H.R. 3211), which was signed into law as part of the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act in July 2012, to make it easier for medical device manufacturers to create and produce devices for the 20 million American individuals with rare diseases. Specifically, my measure will repeal the outdated profit cap on Humanitarian Use Devices (HUDs), which are innovative medical devices used to treat rare diseases. The "no-profit" cap on the sale of these devices discourages manufacturers, particularly smaller companies, from pursuing new developments in the industry, growing their businesses, and creating new jobs. While the no-profit cap was lifted for pediatric devices five years ago, it had not been lifted for adult devices.
• Encouraging Innovation and Job Growth in the Medical Device Manufacturing Field: I was proud to cosponsor and support bipartisan legislation (H.R. 436), which passed the House in June 2012, that will protect more than 3,700 jobs in New Hampshire by repealing the 2.3 percent medical device tax that is included in the new health care law. According to the chief actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the tax will be passed onto consumers in the form of higher drug and device prices and higher insurance premiums. Given that New Hampshire is among the top 10 in states with the highest percentage of employment in this field, repealing this outrageous tax will protect jobs and encourage innovation and competition.
For a complete list of the bills I am sponsoring and cosponsoring, please click here.
Related Press Releases
|
