Health Care

The rising cost of health care has caused millions of Americans to choose between basic needs and insurance.  This can be credited to many things including excessive governmental regulation, irrelevant malpractice lawsuits and a lack of affordable insurance options. 

While I support certain government-provided insurance options for seniors and underprivileged children such as Medicare, Medicaid and S-CHIP, I believe Congress should thoroughly evaluate these programs and eliminate the billions of wasteful dollars that are lost in these programs each year.  Many Americans have rightfully benefited from these essential programs, but unfortunately many people take advantage of the system for their own personal gain.

I believe any plan Congress considers should promote patients’ choice among physicians and pharmacists as well as drugs and services over the government’s choice.  Too often our health care needs are determined by a complete stranger who is more concerned with a bottom line than our best interests. 

Having served as a judge in Central Texas for more than twenty years, I am well aware of the problems that have stemmed from placing the interests of trial lawyers above the interests of patients.  I strongly believe that Congress should immediately implement tort reforms that will eliminate the frivolous lawsuits that have forced countless medical professionals out of the field and escalated medical costs for all hard-working Americans.

I believe that in order to reform our failing insurance system and expand coverage, we must take action to eliminate health insurance mandates that do nothing but increase the cost of insurance for patients.  We must also implement tax code reforms to expand individual purchasing power of health insurance. We must further allow small businesses to band together through associations to provide quality health care for workers and their families without breaking the bank.

I also believe we should improve incentives for students and doctors, which will help growing areas facing serious shortages of health professionals.  These incentives will help to ensure a stable workforce of heath care providers in these areas.  Finally, we must work towards improving the Medicare and TRICARE doctor reimbursement rates to ensure our seniors and military families are able to receive the medical resources they need and deserve.

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