Thornberry Legislation Included In Republican Health Care Package

Press Release

The health care task force appointed by the House Republican leadership has unveiled a comprehensive package of reform measures to expand access to affordable health care, root out waste and fraud, enhance transparency and prevention, and preserve the doctor-patient relationship. Included in the package are two bills that Congressman Thornberry authored to reform the liability system and to standardize and simplify billing practices.

"Billions of dollars are being spent each year on defensive medicine, paperwork, and billing practices which drive up costs for providers and patients alike. If we can work to eliminate frivolous lawsuits and extra paperwork, we will see a safer and more efficient medical system," Congressman Thornberry said.

The Republican task force, dubbed the "House Republican Health Care Solutions Group," has been working for months on a plan, incorporating input from constituents, doctors, patients, and others. The result is a health care reform plan that the solutions group hopes will receive bipartisan support.

"Mac is a real leader in the health care reform discussion," said Congressman Roy Blunt, chairman of the task force. "His innovation on medical liability reform and waste, fraud, and abuse prevention will have a significant impact on our goal of access to affordable health care for all Americans," Congressman Blunt concluded.

The reform package includes 21 different bills to lower costs, promote prevention, protect existing coverage, and improve access to quality care.

"Republicans agree that there are changes that need to be made in our health care system to make it more affordable and responsive to people's needs. If we are going to address overall health care reform, however, we should start by preserving what works in the existing system," said Thornberry. "Once we are confident people can keep what they have, then we should implement some common sense solutions to problem areas like the liability and billing processes as we do in our reform package. That's how we change health care for the better in the long term for all Americans," he concluded.

The Thornberry bills included in the health care reform package are:

H.R. 2787, The Medical Liability Procedural Reform Act
H.R. 2787 will authorize the Attorney General to give grants to states that establish health care tribunals that provide alternatives to current tort litigation. The data collected in these projects will be used to improve patient care and decrease medical errors. With $60 to $108 billion being spent on defensive medicine every year, clearly change is needed. These tribunals will not only provide a more fair and predictable liability process for doctors, they will encourage the sharing of best practices among medical professionals in all states, leading to a safer, and more uniform medical system for all Americans.

H.R. 2785, The Health Care Paperwork Reduction and Fraud Prevention Act
H.R. 2785 establishes a Commission on Billing Codes and Forms Simplification that is tasked with working with Medicare and the medical community to standardize and simplify billing practices while protecting patient privacy. The Commission would also study electronic forms and billing practices with the same goals in mind. This measure takes a practical approach by establishing pilot programs to work out the details with doctors, insurance companies, and government agencies before system-wide changes are implemented.

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