John Culberson – U.S. House of Representatives

House Democrats have unveiled a formal government takeover of health care bill that will increase taxes, increase premiums, increase spending, and cut Medicare. You can read the text of the legislation here and the Manager’s Amendment here. This bill is the wrong kind of reform and it ignores the millions of Americans who have stood up and said “no” to government run health care.

My goal is to give you and your family the financial freedom and security to manage your own health care without interference from the federal government. The best way to ensure affordable access to health care is by using free market principles to control rising costs and reinforce quality. To read the Conservative’s health care bill, please click here and to view the Congressional Budget Office score, please click here.

I am proud to represent many of the 46 institutions of the Texas Medical Center, who provide the best medical care and research in the world. I am committed to ensuring these facilities have all the resources and support they need.

I believe any reforms to our nation’s health care system should start with the following principles:

• Protect the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship. Texas was the first state to ensure no one, not a bureaucrat or an insurance clerk, can interfere with medical decisions made by you and your doctor. In 1997, the State Legislature passed the Health Care Liability Act, which gave managed care enrollees the right to sue their HMO directly.

{http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=75R&Bill=SB386}

{SB 0386 Sibley Managed care entity liability for certain health care decisions 05/07/97}

• Protect and reform Medicare. Medicare is currently projected to be bankrupt by 2017. In December 2008, 45.2 million Americans received their health care benefits through Medicare. We must keep Medicare solvent and sustainable so our children and grandchildren can have access to the same benefits. A copy of the 2009 report can be found here.

• Control costs and eliminate the waste, fraud and abuse in our health care system. Average American families are struggling to pay their doctor and insurance bills, while millions more have no health coverage at all. Americans spend $2.4 trillion a year on health care, or $7,900 per person; more than any country in the world. Recent research found that wasteful spending in the health system has been calculated at up to $1.2 trillion of the $2.2 trillion spent in the United States, more than half of all health spending.

I believe we can achieve these objectives by:

• Allowing small businesses to pool their resources so their employees can afford to buy coverage. I am a cosponsor of the H.R. 2607, the Small Business Health Fairness Act, which would allow small businesses to band together through associations and purchase quality health care for workers and their families at a lower cost.
• Expanding the deductibility of health insurance premiums so Americans who buy their own health insurance can receive the same tax benefits as those who receive coverage through employer-sponsored plans.

• Curing and preventing major diseases such as cancer and diabetes. I support doubling our nation’s investment in medical and scientific research at the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation because medical research and development is one of the most important functions of the federal government, and it is our insurance policy for the future.

• Overhauling Medicare spending so Americans enrolled in the program have access to high quality physicians.

• Passing nationwide tort reform modeled on Texas malpractice law, which protects doctors from frivolous lawsuits and reduces costs within the health care system.

{See what happened when Texas passed tort reform in 2003}

• Increasing the use of electronic medical records and health information technology. Electronic medical records will enhance coordination of care, while reducing costs, medical errors, and inefficiencies.

• Ensuring that District 7 residents do not absorb the health care costs of people who enter the country illegally. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) reported that for Fiscal Year 2006, public hospitals provided $596.8 million in uncompensated care to undocumented illegal aliens. These costs are passed along to insured patients and taxpayers.

I have supported the following legislation in the 111th Congress:

H.R. 1255: To protect the interests of residents of intermediate care facilities for the mentally retarded in class action lawsuits on behalf of a resident. This bill would provide mentally retarded patients in intermediate care facilities the right to decide whether to join a class action lawsuit filed against their facility by the Department of Justice.

H.R. 1362: the National MS and Parkinson’s Disease Registries Act. The bill would enable the development of a system to collect data on MS and Parkinson’s disease including information with respect to the incidence and prevalence of the disease in the United States.

H.R. 1557: the Cooper Wolf SAFE Act. This bill would require a detailed review of all entitlement spending programs to ensure they are fiscally sustainable.

H.R. 1894: the Medicare Fracture and Osteoporosis Testing Act. This bill would overturn harmful cuts to Medicare reimbursements for two common tests to measure bone mass and predict risk of future fracture.

H.R. 1740: the Breast Cancer Education and Awareness Requires Learning Young Act (EARLY). This bill would launch an aggressive public education campaign about breast cancer and women under age 40 — with an emphasis on women at higher risk due to their race, ethnicity, or genetic background. The bill would also raise awareness of the risk factors, the opportunities for genetic counseling and testing, and the unique challenges that face young women diagnosed with breast cancer.

H.R. 2204: the Medicare Access to Rural Anesthesiology Act. This bill would allow rural hospitals to use pass-through funds for anesthesiologists, as well as AAs and nurse anesthetists.

H.R. 444: the 340B Program Improvement and Integrity Act. This bill would extend 340B discounts, which are currently available for outpatient pharmaceuticals, to inpatient settings for hospitals already participating in the 340B program.

H.R. 2607: the Small Business Health Fairness Act. This bill would allow small businesses to band together through associations and purchase quality health care for workers and their families at a lower cost. Small Business Health Plans would increase small businesses’ bargaining power with health care providers, give them freedom from costly state-mandated benefit packages, and lower their health care costs by as much as 30 percent.

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