Issue Position: Health Care

Issue Position

Good health care means that you have the option of personalized patient-centered health care. Americans deserve the right to choose their own health care providers and plans. You have the right to use your hard earned money to provide for your family's health care. I believe that Obamacare is government at its worst -- intrusive, expensive, and full of broken promises. This disastrous law has placed an unfair burden on families across the country, causing work hours and wages to fall. I've already begun working to dismantle some of its most harmful provisions, and I will continue to fight until it is fully repealed. There are many examples right here at home that demonstrates the harm that Obamacare continues to cause.

The bottom line is that Washington has been too involved in health care for too long. The president's health care law is government at its worst -- intrusive, expensive and full of broken promises.

Worst yet, it continues to hurt job creation and economic growth. Texans know what works for Texas. States should have the right to choose what kind of health care works for its citizens instead of having to comply with a mandate out of Washington DC.

Obamacare is simply not a sustainable piece of legislation. It is not paid for in any practical way, it promises care that it cannot deliver, and the mandates and subsidies, required under the law, will strain family budgets and negatively affect entire sectors of the economy. The House has already voted to repeal Obamacare and I am proud to not only co-sponsor that bill, but vote to pass it February 3, 2015.

In Grayson County, Obamacare is forcing the county to restrict part-time and temporary employee hours. Additionally, with the uncertainty of Obamacare's tax and regulatory implications, the county is handcuffed in its effort to make strategic, long term plans about the health care it provides to employees. It's now looking like Obamacare will further cause premiums to increase for families across my district and the entire country unless the Senate and President act to pass the legislation we have passed in the House.

With my strong support, the House has passed legislation to repeal Obamacare in its entirety (H.R. 596.) I am hopeful that the Senate will move quickly to approve this bill so it can be sent to the President's desk. I've also voted for measures targeting Obamacare's employer mandate, which has especially hurt American workers. According to one study, the mandate places as many as 2.6 million employees at risk of losing hours. It requires that businesses with more than 50 full-time workers offer health insurance or face a stiff penalty, defining "full-time" as any employee who works at least 30 hours per week. As a result, businesses are incentivized to hire fewer employees and cut hours in order to avoid the mandate.

The Save American Workers Act (H.R. 30) would increase work hours and wages by restoring the standard 40-hour work week. The Hire More Heroes Act (H.R. 22) would exempt veterans who already have health plans through the Department of Defense or the Department of Veterans Affairs from being counted toward the employee threshold under the employer mandate, which would encourage employers to hire veterans. Both bills passed the House with my support and are now pending in the Senate.

I remain optimistic that we will be able to find a free market solution that allows for a more patient-centered health care system, rather than a law full of broken promises and nasty surprises. Nancy Pelosi told us we needed to pass Obamacare to see what was in it. Now we have seen firsthand the consequences of passing a 2,300 page law that no one read which doubles down on a broken, government-centric health care model. We've now seen what happens when 2,300 page bills are forced through Congress without being read. I am eager to work with a Republican Senate to repeal the worst piece of legislation of my lifetime. That being said, House Republican have solutions that recognize that patient-centered reforms rooted in free markets are the best way to lower costs, increase access to treatment, and solve broader problems in our health care system.
These reforms should include:

Increasing competition by allowing American to purchase health insurance across state lines.

Create association health plans so small businesses can pool together to get the same buying power as large corporations.

Create standard deduction for any taxpayer to purchase health care with the same tax benefits that companies enjoy.

Address medical liability, like what we did in Texas, by capping non-economic damages and limiting attorneys' fees, but also allowing patients' rights to economic damages.

Expanding the use of health savings accounts.

Strengthen state-based high-risk pools and extend existing HIPAA guaranteed availability protections.

Improving insurance portability projections for Americans with pre-existing conditions.

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