We agree with his proposals for what health reform should include. See his last paragraph.
Dear Mrs. Gossage:
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me on health care reform. There is no better guide to making tough decisions than hearing from those whom I serve.
Recent proposals to reform health care are disturbing. Government bureaucracies have no place in determining the health care plans available to the American people. Health care decisions should be made by patients and doctors, and I will do everything I can to maintain this relationship. As we have seen in other countries, a government-run system does not improve access to health care and leads to patients waiting months for treatment, and even traveling to other countries to receive care.
Plans to pay for a government-expansion of health care are also troubling. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated that these bills could cost up to $1.5 trillion. Proposals to pay for this include squeezing money out of the Medicare program – a system already on the path to bankruptcy. Other options include increasing taxes on working Americans, which is a very dangerous move in an already weak economy, or imposing fines on individuals and small businesses who don’t have health insurance.
I agree that we must do something to lower the cost of health care for the American people, but we can do this without a government takeover of the health care system. Tort reform can bring down the cost of malpractice insurance, as well as reduce the number of unnecessary tests doctors perform to avoid lawsuits. We can also bring price transparency and competition back into the health care system through the increased availability of tax-free health savings accounts. And, we can help the uninsured by giving individuals and the self-employed the same tax benefits provided to those who receive employer-based health coverage.
Again, thank you for taking the time to contact me. For more information on this subject, and my recent articles and speeches on the health care debate, please visit the following links:
Audio: Senator Brownback Reacts to the President’s Speech to Congress on Health care
Senator Brownback’s Statement on the President’s Speech to Congress on Health care
Economic Analysis and Reports Related to Health Care: Joint Economic Committee
Op-ed: “Don’t Kill Business to Pay for Health Care” (published by Investor’s Business Daily)
Op-ed: “Don’t Punish Seniors for Health Care” (published by National Review)
Op-ed: “Trashed Job Markets Follows Obama’s Health Plan” (published by Bloomberg News)
July 23rd email update
July 16th email update
June 15th email update
Brownback speaking on health care to Cleveland Chiropractic Clinic
Audio from August 4 tele-townhall on health care reform
Sincerely,
Sam Brownback
United States Senator