Issue Position: Health Care

Issue Position

I do not believe Congress possesses the constitutional authority to require citizens to purchase a health insurance plan acceptable to Congress. I will vote for the repeal of President Obama's healthcare plan. I will seek passage of the following reforms:

1. Transform the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) by converting this program into one of direct assistance to the uninsured in the form of premium assistance or health care vouchers, thereby enabling them to buy private insurance coverage. This will give them access to primary care for minor problems, and free up ERs for true emergencies. It will also take away much of the burden of uncompensated care from our ERs, stopping the flight of emergency facilities away from rural and low-income areas.
2. Pass legislation that limits the liability of emergency room personnel when treating an indigent patient. It is wrong to require a physician to perform his service for free and at the same time retain all the liability if something goes wrong. We need a form of Good Samaritan law for emergency rooms.
3. Stop encouraging the surrender of control of our health care from the individual to the employer. By promoting large Health Savings Accounts we will stop the loss of coverage when someone is in-between jobs (a large percentage of the uninsured fall into this category), give control back to workers, and put downward pressure on health costs by bringing the consumer back into the equation. If HSAs became widespread in America we would also go a long way toward lessening the day of reckoning that is fast approaching on Medicare.
4. Allow interstate competition in health insurance. Over-regulation at the state level and required purchasing within state, are major factors in the high cost of insurance. When the exact same policy can be purchased for half the price in one state vs. another, there is a clear argument for changing this. Individuals should be allowed to purchase insurance across state lines.
5. Enact legislation that provides for the formation of large groups that small businesses and individuals could join to gain purchasing power.
6. Enact malpractice reform and look at establishing voluntary no-fault medical insurance.
7. Address the lack of providers in poor and rural areas through various tuition loan forgiveness programs.
8. Change the unfair tax treatment of employer-provided health insurance vs. individuals purchasing their own. Right now, the tax incentives are in place to favor employer/provided insurance. By offering a health care deduction to every taxpayer you can level the playing field and increase the incentives for individuals to purchase their own health insurance directly, rather than relying on their employers to do it for them. That way, they can choose only the coverage they want or need. For example, why should a 55 year-old be forced to pay for maternity coverage?

These reforms will transform our health care system into one that provides value and freedom of choice; that expands private health care coverage, instead of expanding government; and that puts downward pressure on health care costs, thereby reducing them.

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