Health Care
Ensign on the Issues
Senator Ensign has taken a lead on many healthcare issues since he was elected to the United States Senate. A veterinarian by profession, Senator Ensign understands the principles behind access to quality health care. In his own practice, he knew that he had to provide high-quality medical services at a competitive price. This lesson has helped him formulate healthcare policies that have three goals—affordability, availability, and accessibility. 
Senator Ensign believes that important market-based reforms are critical to reaching these goals for hard-working Americans and their families. The first reform deals with the crisis created by high medical liability insurance premiums which has caused too many physicians to close their doors, severely limiting access for patients across the country, including Nevada. Senator Ensign has taken the lead on medical liability reform legislation to address this issue.
Senator Ensign is also working to provide greater access to health insurance through Small Business Health Plans which would allow business and trade associations to join together and offer affordable group health insurance to working families. Small businesses would be able to negotiate for the benefits they want at the prices they can afford, providing them with the same leverage that larger companies have had for years. Small businesses could finally afford to offer health insurance to their employees, greatly reducing the number of uninsured people across the country.
Health Savings Accounts are another innovative approach to increase accessibility to affordable coverage for major illness and allow consumers to save money, tax-free, up to a set limit, for routine medical expenses. The account holder or his employer can make contributions to the account. If all the money in a year is not used, it can be rolled over to meet future expenses. Senator Ensign wants to expand Health Savings Accounts and introduced the Affordability in the Individual Market Act to allow individuals and families who purchase high-deductible health plans on their own to use their Health Savings Accounts to pay plan premiums. He believes that Health Savings Accounts will encourage consumers to shop around for the best health care, helping our nation confront the rising cost of health care.
As Ranking Member of the Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Technology, Innovation and Competitiveness, Senator Ensign has combined his interests in technology and health care to encourage the adoption of cutting-edge information technologies in health care. Senator Ensign initiated the first Senate hearing on health information technology and was instrumental in developing quality measurement language in the Senate-passed health information technology bill. He believes that information technology could save lives by reducing medical errors, improving patient care, and reducing costs.
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