Lower Costs, More Transparency Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, this transparency bill lacks transparency on two of the major problems that are impacting soaring healthcare costs. The only reason to reject transparency for, first, private equity and, second, Medicare Advantage is that they have got more to hide and apparently more lobbying power.

A growing private equity takeover of healthcare has already undermined care in nursing homes and now threatens hospitals and medical specialty practices across the United States with higher prices, higher cost to taxpayers, and less quality.

A Senate committee has just launched a major investigation into the impact of private equity on hospital costs and lower quality care.

Having failed to save taxpayers a dime that was promised--of the many millions that was promised--Medicare Advantage costs $1,500 per person each year over the cost of traditional Medicare. That is billions in wasted taxpayer dollars.

The best way to fund much-needed services at community health centers and to expand and improve and strengthen Medicare with services such as dental, hearing, and vision is to take it right out of Medicare Advantage.

This bill, I believe, should be rejected until these issues are addressed by permitting the very amendments that we offered in the House Ways and Means Committee that rejected them, as usual, to address private equity and Medicare Advantage.

Mr. Speaker, with all respect to the bipartisan efforts and hard work in the Energy and Commerce Committee, I believe there is a better way to finance needs, and a very important need, to address the issues of transparency on Medicare Advantage and private equity. Therefore, I oppose the bill.

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