Health Care Reform

Floor Speech

Mr. FLEMING. Madam Speaker, of this massive almost 3,000-page bill, there is not one thing that lowers cost; not one. A recent Heritage Foundation article focused on the fact that the health care system is fraught with perverse economic incentives that generate artificially high and rapidly increasing spending. This system does nothing to incentivize the doctor, the patient or the insurance company, let alone the Federal Government, to spend the health care dollars efficiently. However, I'm not suggesting that patients have to bear higher out-of-pocket costs. By this, the doctor and the patient must be reengaged, however, with the cost of their care. And how can we do that?

One amendment that we have tried to get into this bill a number of times and has failed is a robust system of health savings accounts for all. This way, we get to have our cake and eat it too. By that I mean that a portion of the insurance premiums should be put into a special medical spending account for those on all government and private insurance programs who would, in turn, be able to use tax-free funds for discretionary

health care purchases. This would be the first step in turning patients into savvy health care consumers. As they save money for themselves, they will save it for the health care system at large, thus bending the cost curve downward.

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