Health Care

Dr. Cassidy has served uninsured patients at Earl K. Long public hospital and been a medical professor at LSU for the past twenty years.  He has a deep understanding of health care policy and families’ health care needs.

Dr. Cassidy came to Congress to lower health care costs, increase access to high-quality care, andput patients in charge of their health care dollars and decisions.  President Obama’s new health care law does not achieve this.  Instead, Dr. Cassidy is supporting legislation that will repeal the new law and replace it with reforms that will help ensure access to affordable, quality health care to all Americans without adding to our national debt.

This new law should employ a variety of innovative solutions to lower costs by shifting the balance of power in health care decision-making from insurance companies and the government to patients, including:

• Providing greater flexibility for the use of Health Savings Accounts;
• Reforming the medical liability tort system to reduce frivolous lawsuits that drive up costs by forcing doctors to practice defensive medicine;
• Creating pooling mechanisms, like Individual Membership Associations and Association Health Plans, that provide patients greater flexibility and bargaining power;
• Providing tax credits to cover the cost of health care for low-income families;
• Allowing patients to shop for insurance across state lines;
• Providing patients who wish to opt out of federal programs (like Medicaid)  vouchers to purchase private coverage;
• Allowing employers to offer discounts to incentivize participation in wellness programs; and
• Ensuring coverage for those with pre-existing conditions by strengthening high risk/reinsurance pools.

By increasing patients’ control over their health care decisions and lowering the cost of access, we can achieve the reform Americans deserve and need.