http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31833.html
Opinion Contributor
By REP. CHARLES BOUSTANY | 1/22/10 4:48 AM EST

Americans agree — we need health care reform to bring down costs for families and businesses. But as more Americans learn about the health care overhauls proposed by congressional Democrats, they increasingly believe we should go in a different direction. Voters in Massachusetts resolutely stated just that Tuesday.

If congressional Democrats are serious about reaching a bipartisan consensus, they should scrap the current House and Senate measures and work toward common-sense solutions.

I had the honor to address the American people after the president spoke to a joint session of Congress in September. I discussed several solutions to lower costs where Republicans and Democrats agree on health care. The president spoke about each of these areas, too. Unfortunately, the current proposals focus on where we disagree.

As a heart surgeon for nearly 20 years, I treated thousands of patients and saw the problems patients had trying to find a doctor and their anxiety from out-of-control premium and co-pay increases. I also saw the amazing lifesaving innovation our system enables. We need to build on what works.

Reducing health care costs for families requires increased competition in health insurance. True competition, rather than a new government bureaucracy, will put families in control of their health care decisions and give them better choices to reduce their costs. Allowing individuals and associations like volunteer groups and small businesses to pool together will increase their purchasing power and make them eligible for the same tax benefits currently enjoyed by large employers and labor unions. Permitting individuals and businesses to purchase health insurance across state lines could drive down costs further.

Encouraging wellness and prevention helps improve quality of life and can lower costs, too. I saw too many patients who had poor health because of their decisions, but too often, all they needed was a doctor to help point them in the right direction. Focusing on the doctor-patient relationship will help families find prenatal care, smoking-cessation programs and weight-loss plans.

The president also spoke about medical liability reform to bring down the cost of frivolous lawsuits and defensive medicine. However, neither the House nor the Senate health care overhaul addresses medical liability reform in any meaningful way. Texas and Mississippi have lowered health care costs with caps on noneconomic, punitive jury judgments to protect both patients and doctors.

Additionally, we cannot fail to address the looming shortage of medical providers. Too often, patients without a primary doctor go to expensive hospital emergency rooms for nonurgent care. Reimbursement cuts for patient care created by the new, government-run plan in the House and Senate proposals worsen this problem.

Exit polling from the Massachusetts Senate election shows Bay State voter support for the current health care proposals is well below 50 percent. National polls echo similar sentiments. Shouldn’t leaders in Congress work together to achieve real bipartisan solutions to lower health care costs that the American people support?

We can create more affordable coverage options for all Americans and help patients with pre-existing conditions — without forcing any satisfied Americans to lose coverage they like — through high-risk pools and reinsurance options. This does not require job-killing tax hikes and mandates on individuals and businesses in our struggling economy.

Many of the solutions with broad support could be drafted relatively quickly in a transparent way to fully vet these proposals. Legislators on both sides of the aisle already have bills with helpful solutions we could agree upon. Let’s work on those solutions first.

Republican Rep. Charles Boustany, a heart surgeon, represents southwest Louisiana. He is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee with jurisdiction over tax policy.