Health Care

Earlier this year, President Obama and Speaker Pelosi forced through their health care bill (H.R. 3590). The new law is deeply flawed. The trillion-dollar law cuts Medicare by more than $500 billion, increases taxes by almost $570 billion and will not reduce the costs of health care for families or businesses.

This irresponsible and ineffective new law must be repealed and replaced with fiscally responsible reforms that will reduce costs across the board, improve access to insurance and health care, enact true medical liability reform (tort reform), and ensure the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship — all without raising taxes or cutting seniors’ Medicare benefits.

The cost of health care is unsustainable for families, business and government budgets. Too many Americans are uninsured and many more find it difficult to pay their insurance bills every month. As I listen to Kentuckians across the District, I constantly hear frustrations and serious concerns about the new health care law that amounts to nothing more than a government takeover of our health care system.

We can reduce cost and improve access to health care with several straightforward reform measures:

• Interstate sales of health insurance policies to increase competition
• New pooling mechanisms to allow small businesses, States, associations and other organizations can collectively use their purchasing power to buy more affordable insurance
• Incentive measures to encourage States to meet targets of reducing premiums and decreasing the number of uninsured
• Comprehensive medical liability reform (tort reform).
• Insurance Reforms Measures, including

Guaranteeing access to affordable health insurance for those with pre-existing conditions
Prohibiting insurers from unfairly cancelling existing policies
Allowing young adults to stay on their parents’ insurance

• Focus on prevention and wellness
• Simplify the federal health care bureaucracy to increase transparency and reduce waste, fraud and abuse