Health Care

Health Care

Over the last year, the American People have overwhelmingly rejected the President's vision for healthcare reform. Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle understand that it will not cure what ails our health insurance markets or our health delivery networks. Rather than empowering patients and encouraging cost conscious behavior, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act creates new bureaucracies and an unsustainable system of mandates and subsidies. This new law will burden Americans with billions in taxes, a trillion dollars in new spending, and a mountain of debt to make up the difference. It also creates the first-ever mandate for individuals to purchase health care which will be enforced with surcharges, fines, and eventually jail time. This legislation creates an entire new class of crimes to enforce the governments will.

My colleagues and I are focused on repealing this law and replacing it with one that creates a competitive health care market that is responsive to the needs of consumers without forcing Americans who do not have health insurance to become criminals. I hope to work with the other side of the aisle to create a bill with solutions that will lower health care costs. I am an original cosponsor of H.R.4972, to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Our health care system can be strengthened by removing the job-killing mandates in the bill, strengthening Medicare for our seniors, promoting state based solutions, and ensuring that our doctors stay in the health care industry and treat patients.

I believe that Americans want choices in healthcare. A universal, national healthcare plan will not be able to offer the choices and services that so many Americans have become accustomed to. The majority of the estimated 45 million uninsured work for small businesses or depend on someone who does. Lowering healthcare costs begins with getting more people covered. I support proposals that provide incentives to small businesses to offer healthcare insurance.

First, it is important to recognize that entitlement programs, such as Medicare, Medicaid, and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program represent promises made by the American people to certain segments of our population. In 2007, our federal government spent $700 billion to fulfill those promises, roughly $6,300 per household or $2,333 for every man, woman, and child in our country. Yet, even with these staggering annual outlays, it is estimated that we will still owe an additional $50 trillion dollars over the next 75 years to fulfill these promises, due largely to the explosion in the costs of care and the lengthening American lifespan. It is time that we start caring more about the enormous deficit that we are leaving our children when spending taxpayer dollars.

Some in Washington have expressed a desire to centralize healthcare either through a nationalized health insurance scheme, through a national regulatory board, or by creating laws requiring the purchase of certain types of insurance. These individuals believe that more bureaucratic involvement will lead to Americans living longer, healthier lives. Regardless of my objections to the creation of a universal federal insurance program, we simply cannot afford to make more commitments of this magnitude. It would be tragic to again over-promise and under-deliver to American families.

Rather than looking first towards the government to provide healthcare, I support several proposals that will leave health care decisions in the hands of doctors and their patients, improve the delivery of care, and allow the freedom of individual choice in their health care options.

Healthcare expenses are often distorted by our tax policy, which gives business a tax-break for every dollar that is spent on healthcare and encourages them to offer health insurance as a benefit in lieu of higher salaries for their employees. While there is nothing inherently wrong with employer-sponsored healthcare, the arrangement shields consumers from the true costs of their healthcare decisions. Because a third party ultimately pays the majority of the bill, there is no incentive for consumers to forgo more expensive, but less necessary, treatment options.

I support legislation that would provide a tax deduction for all medical expenditures for an individual, a spouse, or dependants. This will level the playing field between individuals and employers, and for most families, allow them to purchase their own, portable health plan that is not tied to a job. As consumers become responsible for their own care and begin to be able to weigh the costs of their healthcare options, entrepreneurs will find new ways to make healthcare affordable for everyone. By empowering individuals and their doctors to make decisions on healthcare, more Americans will be able to access the medical services they need to make measurable improvements to their quality of life.

Mike Conaway | 11th District of Texas

Health Care

issues

News