Health care

The quality of health care in the United States is second to none.  However skyrocketing costs and accessing care for everyone are serious problems that threaten to undermine the system unless we address these problems now in a sensible manner.  Doctors are having a hard time keeping their doors open, patients do not have as many choices, millions of people go without insurance, and through it all costs continue to rise.

We need deep, systemic changes that will increase access to health care and make it more affordable, without compromising quality and the doctor-patient relationship.

Unfortunately, the health care package pushed through the last Congress failed to accomplish such commonsense goals – in fact, it made matters worse.  We must replace it with health care policies that maintain quality, control costs, and preserve what people like about their coverage.

I look forward to working on behalf of my constituents and with my colleagues to open up insurance markets beyond state lines, find bipartisan agreement on lawsuit abuse reform, and encourage businesses and families to make informed decisions regarding their health care options.

With modern technology, we should be able to compare health care costs between providers,  craft insurance plans that will best cover our families and employees, and pool small business plans and individual purchasers, thereby defraying risk and lowering overall costs.

Access. Affordability. Quality.  These are the measures I will use to judge new health care legislation.  I think we can improve our health care system without increasing the size of government.