Issue Position: Health Care

Issue Position

As a physician who has cared for patients for over 30 years, I have seen firsthand the critical impact health care has on the daily lives of Americans.

America's healthcare system was broken before the President's healthcare law was passed, and sadly that law has only made things worse. Healthcare costs are still rising and some Americans are struggling to have access to the care they need.

The President's healthcare law claimed to want to tackle those problems, but sadly the law fails to fix the problems. The law puts healthcare decisions in the hands of government bureaucrats and insurance companies rather than doctors and patients. With the Supreme Court decision earlier this year, the health reform law is also one of the biggest tax increases in our nation's history. The law also cuts Medicare by over 500 billion dollars.

I support replacing the President's healthcare law with other common sense reform measures, like increasing competition between insurance companies by allowing competition across state lines, tax deductibility of 100% of medical costs, expanding health insurance savings accounts and other measures that allow you to be in control of your health care decisions.

One of the things that often gets overlooked is that not all Americans are getting top quality care. As an obstetric anesthesiologist, I have seen the cesarean section rise dramatically from my days in residency. In addition, women have seen the number of experienced OBGYN doctors no longer practicing obstetrics dramatically increase. Those that do still practice obstetrics, tend to practice in large group settings which means women may not know which doctor will actually deliver their child and they no longer develop that important personal relationship with their doctor. This is all a result of the dramatic increases in medical malpractice rates. Trial lawyers pursuing frivolous lawsuits are driving up healthcare costs for everyone and causing women to get a lower quality of healthcare. Tort reform is a necessary component to meaningful health care improvement efforts. A number of tort reform measures have passed out of the House with my full support, however they are languishing in the Senate along with other good bills.

As a health care specialist, I am committed to repealing Obamacare and replacing it with patient-centered, affordable health care reforms. Although not perfect, the United States of America has the best health care in the world. Let's keep it that way.

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