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Health Care

While the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (known by most as Obamacare) tried to solve the problem of skyrocketing health care costs and access to care issues, it did so without sufficient regard for the doctor-patient relationship and the benefits of consumer choice.  Furthermore, it has failed, and will likely continue to fail, to control the cost of health care. 
 
Reforming our current health care system is important.  But such reform should address government barriers to free choice and competition, thereby allowing Americans to remain in control of their health care decisions while letting competition drive down costs. Common sense solutions include medical liability reform, ensuring that Americans can purchase quality insurance over state lines, expanded use of health savings accounts, and greater access to consumer-directed health care options.
 
Recently, the House of Representatives passed a bill I authored, the Save American Workers Act of 2015, by a bipartisan vote of 252 - 172. This legislation would repeal and replace the definition of full time work within Obamacare. The reformed threshold of 40 hours will rollback a harmful provision within Obamcare that disproportionately hurts the people the law was ostensibly supposed to help.
 
Where I stand on health care
  1. We must repeal the 2010 health care law: The 2010 health care law is financed through new taxes, fees, and mandates—many of which will hit middle-class families and the small businesses that we are depending on to move our economy forward. Obamacare will exacerbate the spiraling cost of health care, explode deficits and debts, and forever alter the relationship between the government and the American people.  If we truly want to reform health care, we must start from scratch.  That doesn't mean we won't adopt some of its components, but we should begin with a fresh slate.

  2. We should take power away from government bureaucrats and enact patient-centered reform: The problem with the 2010 health care law is that it puts government—not doctors and patients—at the center of healthcare decisions. Republicans in Congress have already taken steps to cut down on bureaucratic red tape by voting to repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), a board made up of 15 unelected members of the President’s choosing who will be tasked with bringing down costs in Medicare. IPAB will have the authority to deny payments, slash provider reimbursements, and change service options without any type of judicial review process. Under IPAB, Americans will no longer be able to rely on the trusted patient-provider relationship to make their health care decisions; rather, these decisions will be made by bureaucrats in Washington.

  3. We should let the free market work to lower costs: While there are a number of complex factors that drive up the costs of health care, much of it can be boiled down to a classic example of supply vs. demand.  Doctors worried about frivolous lawsuits, for instance, are more likely to prescribe treatments that aren't totally necessary to cover their bases.  That increases the demand for the treatment, which in turn drives up price.  Medical liability reform would address this phenomenon of "defensive medicine", allowing the market to bend the cost curve down.  Or consider Medicare's fee-for-service model.  When the government is paying providers directly, the only way to control the cost of Medicare is to cut the amount we pay for each service.  In order to recoup their losses, some providers often prescribe more or costlier treatments.  This increase in demand once again drives up the price of health care.  On the flip side, when we bar individuals from buying health insurance across state lines, we limit the supply of available carriers.  By allowing someone in Indiana to buy a health policy from California that they like, we increase competition, which we know leads to better service at a lower cost.

What Do You Think?

I'm here to be your voice.  If you have your own thoughts on this issue, don't hesitate to let me know.

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