Healthcare

Health Care Reform:  Putting Patients First

Americans have the best doctors, the best hospitals, the most innovative medical technology, and the best scientists in the world.  Our challenge and opportunity is to build around them the best health care system.  Republicans believe the key to real reform is to give control of the health care system to patients and their health care providers, not bureaucrats in government or business.

There are reasons why American families and businesses are dissatisfied with the current state of health care:

• Most Americans work longer and harder to pay for health care. 

• Dedicated health care providers are changing careers to avoid litigation.

• The need to hold onto health insurance is driving family decisions about where to live and work. 

• Many new parents worry about the loss of coverage if they choose to stay at home with their children.

• The need – and the bills – for long-term care are challenging families and government alike.

• American businesses are becoming less competitive in the global marketplace because of insurance costs.

• Some federal programs with no benefit to patients have grown exponentially, adding layers of bureaucracy between patients and their care.  

It is not enough to offer only increased access to a system that costs too much and does not work for millions of Americans.  The Republican goal is more ambitious: Better health care for lower cost.

First Principle:  Do No Harm

How do we ensure that all Americans have the peace of mind that comes from owning high-quality, comprehensive health coverage? The first rule of public policy is the same as with medicine: Do no harm.

The American people rejected Democrats’ attempted government takeover of health care in 1993, and they remain skeptical of politicians who would send us down that road.  Republicans support the private practice of medicine and oppose socialized medicine in the form of a government-run universal health care system.  Republicans pledge that as we reform our health care system:

• We will protect citizens against any and all risky restructuring efforts that would complicate or ration health care.

• We will encourage health promotion and disease prevention.

• We will facilitate cooperation, not confrontation, among patients, providers, payers, and all stakeholders in the health care system.

• We will not put government between patients and their health care providers.

• We will not put the system on a path that empowers Washington bureaucrats at the expense of patients.

• We will not raise taxes instead of reducing health care costs.

• We will not replace the current system with the staggering inefficiency, maddening irrationality, and uncontrollable costs of a government monopoly.

Radical restructuring of health care would be unwise.  We want all Americans to be able to choose the best health care provider, hospital, and health coverage for their needs.  We believe that real reform is about improving your access to a health care provider, your control over care, and your ability to afford that care. 

We will continue to advocate for simplification of the system and the empowerment of patients.  This is in stark contrast to the other party’s insistence on putting Washington in charge of patient care, which has blocked any progress on meeting these goals.  We offer a detailed program that will improve the quality, cost, and coverage of health care throughout the nation, and we will turn that plan into reality.

Click below to learn more about:

Healthcare

• Patient Control and Portability

• Improving Quality of Care and Lowering Costs

• Funding Medical Research

• Protecting Rights of Conscience

• Medicare

• Medicaid

• Building a Health Care System for Future Emergencies