Issue Position: Health Care

Issue Position

I have firsthand knowledge of the precarious nature of our country's health care system as a physician. The current health care business model simply does not work; and it won't work until individuals are empowered, encouraged and enabled to take direct control and responsibility for their own health.

Health Care Reform

Health care reform by any other name is GOVERNMENT CONTROL. The federal government has no constitutional basis for reorganizing and regulating our health care. The Congress has gone back to the drawing board on the health care bill, but don't kid yourself. They have not abandoned control of your health care.

Congress has changed the focus recently to villainize the insurance companies, only to distract us from the real culprit, government run health care. They want to make you feel like the victim in health care, the insurance companies the villain, and the government the savior! Being a doctor, I warn people to guard against anything that allows the government a greater foothold in our health care system than they already have. Congress says they are concerned about the health care for Americans; yet, their proposed reforms do nothing about the 2 main things that would go a long way to reform our health care: (1) Law suit abuse, otherwise known as Tort reform, and (2) Insurance portability.

Tort reform will save millions in health care dollars! In addition it would offer some relief of the emotional drain that is a constant burden to medical doctors. Thousands of patient care hours are lost every day across America as physicians leave their offices to prepare for frivolous law suits. In addition, a huge expense for physicians is the cost of liability insurance. When Texans voted for the tort reform that we have today, thousands of doctors returned to practice in Texas.

Tort reform must include reform of contingency fee agreements. Contingency fee agreements allow someone to bring a suit against a doctor and yet never pay anything, any court fees, attorney fees, etc. They have zero accountability for whether the case has merit. An attorney will take on a case for the millions they may win, so the more cases they have brought to them the more likely they will find one that will hit the jackpot. The doctor has to jump through hoops, pay legal fees and miss time from patients all to prove his or her innocence.

The majority of the time these law suits only lead to a frivolous waste of time, money and effort. Tort reform is not considered by the government in health care reform because many of our congressmen are attorneys who represent the trial lawyers interests as opposed to the interests of the people who elected them. The lobby for the trial lawyers is strong! The government doesn't mind if we loose jobs, but they refuse to control the trial lawyer lobby. This is a contemptuous conflict of interest concerning which I am incensed and which should cause all of us Americans to be OUTRAGED!

Regarding the purchase of health insurance, we know that insurance portability compels cutting edge competition and free markets that will drive the cost of policies down. We need to be able to buy insurance across the state lines. Yes, there does need to be reform inside the health insurance industry. And that can be done one step at a time rather than completely ending free enterprise in the industry. But the refusal to address Tort Reform and Portability of Insurance across state lines by the current administration and congress tell me that they are not really interested in reforming health care; they are interested in controlling your health care! They are taking over one of our most intimate personal freedoms, the right to make decisions about our own health care! This is just one more form of socialism and government that they are forcing on us.

Changes that we need to see with health reform include: (this is not an exhaustive list)
* Prescription drug reform
* Tort reform/law suit abuse reform
* Insurance company reform
* Insurance portability
* Tax credits for personal insurance plans
* Medical Savings Account deductions
* Stop the discrimination against the self-employed, unemployed and small businesses for their health insurance costs reflected in the tax code
* Durable medical supplies used by the government should be under a bid contract to assure a competitive price.
* Stop the mandatory 3 night stay in the hospital before a person can go to a long term care facility (this alone will save millions)
* Preventive health behavior initiatives
* Provide more prescription drug benefits for Medicare recipients
* Improved benefits for our Veterans
* Work for Benefits program: Adults on Medicaid and the parents that use Medicaid for their children over the age of 5 must do community service in trade for the health care dollars they spend for accountability of their use. This would not apply to adults over the age of 65 or to truly disabled persons.

I AM OPPOSED TO NATIONAL HEALTH CARE PROVIDED BY THE GOVERNMENT

We need health care reform but not regulation! This is the government coming between you and your doctor. There will inevitably lead fewer doctors entering into or staying in the medical profession. Many currently practicing doctors will retire. The government will have to promise foreign doctors citizenship if they will come to America to practice in order to provide enough doctors to meet the demand as the supply of home grown doctors dwindles. The patient's choice act stresses using the forces of choice and competition rather than rationing and restrictions to contain costs. Government needs to cut the regulation that binds free market forces as well as their wasteful spending if they are serious about health care reform.

"Enough is Enough"!
Dr. Donna for Congress

Source