Health
“I am committed to providing more affordable and accessible healthcare that gives Americans more control and more choices.”
Our policies should focus on:
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Preserving and protecting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
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Protecting the healthcare of our veteran’s and service members. We should honor them by keeping costs TRICARE costs as low as possible.
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Encouraging competition in the insurance industry by allowing the purchase of health insurance across state lines.
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Reducing frivolous lawsuits against doctors that drive up the costs of your healthcare.
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Cracking down on waste, fraud, and abuse.
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Reducing taxes, penalties, and insurance premiums by repealing and replacing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
PPACA’s Individual Mandate:
The federal government should not be able to dictate what products you must purchase. Under the President’s healthcare law and beginning in 2014, every American must purchase health insurance or else face a tax penalty. This is known as the individual mandate under PPACA. This tax penalty is expected to hit 6 million Americans, with the majority coming from the middle class. By 2016, the average penalty will reach $1,200 per family.
The IRS has said that there will be no levies, liens, criminal prosecutions or garnished wages for failure to pay the tax penalty. However, the IRS could cut your tax returns.
It is important that we repeal this government mandate. It is simply bad policy that leads to middle-class tax hikes and strips away your freedoms.
Legislation that Supports these Reforms:
I’ve co-sponsored over 20 bills that seek to improve your healthcare and protect the lives of the innocent unborn, including:
- H.R. 2: Repealing the Job-Killing HealthCare Law Act: The bill repeals PPACA in its entirety. The bill passed the House by a vote of 245-189 on January 19, 2011.
- H.R. 21: The Reclaiming Individual Liberty Act: This bill repeals the PPACA mandate (Individual Mandate) requiring individuals to purchase health insurance.
- H.R. 371: The Health Care Choice Act of 2011: This legislation provides for the purchase of health insurance across state lines.
- H.R. 374: The Life at Conception Act: This legislation declares that life begins at conception, and that the right to life is guaranteed by the Constitution.
- H.R. 436: The Protect Medical Innovation Act of 2011: This legislation repeals PPACA’s 2.1% excise tax on medical devices to ensure greater medical innovation. This bill included provisions to allow certain tax exempt health savings accounts to be used to purchase over-the-counter medications as well as cash out on unused flexible spending accounts (FSAs). The bill passed the House by a vote of 270-146 on June 7, 2012.
- H.R. 452: The Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011: This legislation repeals the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) established under PPACA. The House-passed H.R. 5 included repeal of IPAB.
- H.R. 1179: The Respect for Rights of Conscience Act of 2011: The bill amends PPACA to allow healthcare plans and their providers the right to not cover and provide a service for drugs or treatment that violates their moral or religious views.
- H.R. 1285: The Military HealthCare Affordability Act: This legislation prohibits increases in healthcare costs (including TRICARE premiums) or limits on benefit adjustments for those serving in our Armed Forces, retirees, and dependents.
- H.R. 2363: The HealthCare Over Use Reform Today Act (HealthCOURT Act) of 2011: This bill focuses on medical liability reform by limiting damages if certain guidelines have not been followed and provides grants to the states for the creation of health care tribunals to deal with health care disputes.
For more information concerning my work and views on Healthcare, please contact my Washington, DC office.