Issue Position: Healthcare

Issue Position

I have worked tirelessly to repeal ObamaCare and replace it with real health care reforms that will lower health care costs, while maintaining scientific innovation and without putting government bureaucrats between patients and their doctors.

The three-year anniversary marking the signing of Obamacare into law took place on March 21, 2013; but unfortunately, this occasion served as a reminder that the President's health care overhaul did not make health care more "affordable." In fact, three years later, Obamacare has only increased the pressures on a health care system that remains broken and made things worse. I have been very upfront about my opposition to the President's health care law, and consistent with my views, I have cosponsored and voted for full repeal of Obamacare.

Expanding access to affordable, quality care without putting bureaucrats between patients and doctors is a top priority of mine for the 113th Congress. I believe that this can be accomplished through market-based and patient centered reforms that emphasize the physician-patient relationship, and also encourage coverage of pre-existing conditions and portability of coverage. Unfortunately, Obamacare is the largest impediment to this sort of reform. Despite its stated purpose, one of this law's most egregious shortcomings is that it makes premiums more expensive while imposing a huge tax upon those Americans who cannot afford to buy insurance. Rather that helping the most vulnerable among us obtain the coverage they need, Obamacare punishes them.

In Congress, I am working to repeal Obamacare, enact true reforms to our nation's health care system -- including medical malpractice reform -- which are sustainable over the long term, protect the doctor-patient relationship, and expand access to care while lowering the cost of delivering health care. I want to make sure that health care reform is centered around the American people, not Washington.

I also believe that we need to further promote medical innovation. Federal grants provided by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) offer researchers a vital opportunity to perform pioneering research which will ultimately cure some of the most deadly and serious diseases impacting human health. That is why I believe we must couple a strong commitment to NIH research with reform of our current mandatory spending programs, including Medicare. If left unchanged, Medicare will continue to consume an ever-increasing percentage of our federal budget and crowd out our ability to fund the NIH at the level needed. A strong level of funding for the NIH is critical if the United States is going to continue to play a leading role in medical research, and going forward, I will continue to advocate for robust funding awarded to the NIH.

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