Health
![Health professional examining a young patient. Health professional examining a young patient.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20130104180943im_/http://heck.house.gov/sites/heck.house.gov/files/styles/section_front_boilerplate/public/health.jpg)
"Leveraging current programs and providing consumer choice will have a positive impact on access to healthcare that is affordable for everyone."
-Dr. Joe Heck
As the representative of Nevada’s Third District and a physician, one of the most important issues to me is health care. We face a variety of challenges when it comes to increasing access to quality. affordable medical care and ensuring that those who want to buy health insurance can do so. I also have a responsibility to make sure that seniors have access to the medical care that was promised to them. Protecting Medicare for current seniors and preserving it for future generations will continue to be a focus of mine in Congress.
In March of 2012, the House voted to repeal the Independent Payment Advisor Board. This board of unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats was created by the health care reform law to "reduce the per capita rate of growth in Medicare spending." As a doctor, I know that such a board will have an adverse affect on health care access for seniors. I voted to repeal this Medicare rationing board because Nevadans don't want 15 bureaucrats in Washington dictating what services they receive from Medicare.
In addition, I marked the second anniversary of the passage of the health reform law by introducing legislation that repeals the current health care law, repairs parts of the law that are well-intentioned but need to be fixed, and replaces eliminated portions with meaningful, patient-centered reforms that will increase access to care. My bill keeps many of the critical provisions, such as allowing individuals with pre-existing conditions to purchase insurance and children to stay on their parents' insurance place until the age of 26, intact. To learn more about my health care legislation, click here.
As my colleagues and I continue to work to replace the health care law with patient-centered reforms, please be assured that I will continue to uphold my commitments to the hard-working Nevada taxpayers to restore the federal government to its proper role in our health care system.
The foundation of any reform must be based on:
* Moving insurance away from an employer-provided model and toward an individual-based one.
* Federal tort reform to decrease the costs associated with defensive medicine.
* Maximizing efficiencies in the provision of healthcare through electronic transactions and medical records.
* Safeguarding those who have insurance.
* Providing an option for those without insurance to buy in to an existing program.
Our system currently works for the majority of Americans. We can make it work for all Americans through common-sense reforms.
For more information concerning my work and views on Health Care, please contact my Washington, DC office.