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Meehan Unveils Platform on Health Care Reform
March 15, 2010
Contact: Pete Peterson, (215) 990-8928
Meehan Unveils Platform on Health Care Reform
Meehan says he would vote “no” on Senate-passed health care bill
DREXEL HILL, PA – Pat Meehan, the Republican candidate for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District, today unveiled his platform on health care reform citing his support for a range of reforms designed to reduce premiums, lower health care costs, increase access to affordable health care insurance, prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage of individuals with pre-existing conditions, and a range of other initiatives. Meehan also said he would vote “no” on the Senate-passed health care bill due to be voted on in the House of Representatives this week
“As the husband of a nurse practitioner, I know that our current health care system is in need of reform,” said Meehan. “Health care costs are skyrocketing out of control. In many cases, those costs are being passed on to local residents in the form of changes to their health insurance plans, including higher co-pays, increased premiums, and increased prescription drug costs. But the current Senate-passed health care legislation is not the answer and if I was representing Pennsylvania’s Seventh Congressional District today, I would vote “No”. It will jeopardize millions of jobs, force people out of their existing plans, increase premiums, cut Medicare for seniors, and raise taxes. We can reform the health care system without these negative impacts.”
“We need to do a better job controlling costs, reducing premiums, increasing access to health care insurance, and protecting individuals with pre-existing conditions,” said Meehan. “We also need to take a serious look at increasing competition among health care providers by allowing individuals to purchase health insurance across state lines and institute health insurance portability that will allow individuals to take their existing health plans with them as they move from job to job. I believe we can accomplish these reforms without the many negative impacts of the current legislation.”
“Rising health care costs are a top concern of the American people, but the Congressional Budget Office has noted that this bill simply does not control costs,” said Meehan. “Warren Buffet, a supporter of President Obama and a strong advocate for making the economy fairer for working families and the poor, strongly argues that the most sensible healthcare reform strategy is to ‘control costs first, second and last, and then-and only then-turn to the important work of expanding coverage.’ Some estimates suggest that 30 percent of healthcare costs are attributable to waste. Let us find it now and channel the proceeds into greater coverage.”
“Now is not time to take on $1.4 trillion in new spending obligations contained in this bill without addressing the issue of rising health care costs,” said Meehan. “At a time when our economy is reeling, the bill’s new mandates and taxes on small businesses will have a tremendously negative impact on job creation and will likely costs hundreds of thousands of jobs. It would be a serious economic mistake to rush through a massive restructuring of what amounts to one-sixth of our nation’s economy on the heels of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. I believe we can accomplish health care reform and increase access without this huge price tag that will be passed on to our children and grandchildren and divert resources away from investments in education, infrastructure, and energy that are necessary to remain competitive on a global scale and prevent the loss of more jobs.”
“The health care problems facing our nation today are the result of more than 50 years of ineffective public policy, business practices, and other factors,” said Meehan. “It is critical that we implement health care reform correctly and thoughtfully based on effective solutions that keep intact the existing doctor-patient relationship and protect the ability of every American to keep their existing health insurance coverage without a government takeover of health care. The American people have rightfully expressed their serious concerns with various aspects of the Democrats’ legislation, yet Congress appears intent on pushing this through despite public opposition and the lack of bi-partisan support.”
Pat Meehan cited a number of health care reforms he supports, reforms that have bi-partisan support and that he believes Congress should take up immediately. They include:
- Allowing individuals, small businesses, and trade associations to pool together and acquire health insurance at lower prices, the same way large corporations and labor unions do.
- Ending discrimination by health insurance companies based on pre-existing conditions and prohibiting insurance companies from dropping coverage because of illness, unjustly canceling an individual’s policy, or instituting annual or lifetime spending limits on policies.
- Encouraging greater competition among health insurance providers – and reducing the cost of health insurance -- by removing the barriers and restrictions preventing health insurance from being purchased across state lines. Right now competition is limited to just a few providers in any particular region and companies have little incentive to innovate or operate more efficiently.
- Providing for portability of health care plans that will allow people to keep their existing plans when they move from job to job.
- Implementing medical malpractice and tort reform through the establishment of medical courts which encourage arbitration and settlements while also helping to weed out frivolous lawsuits before they become a strain on the judicial system and drive up costs to the health care system. According to the American Medical Association (AMA), as much as $10 billion dollars are spent each year on defensive medicine and unnecessary tests prescribed simply to pad patient records as doctors try to protect themselves from frivolous lawsuits.
- Combating waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicare by providing new funding and tools to tackle the problem and reduce costs. Under Pat’s leadership, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia was the national leader in prosecuting healthcare fraud. Using the federal False Claims Act as an enforcement tool in drug switching and kickback cases, Pat’s office recovered more than $2.7 billion for taxpayer-supported federal health insurance programs through settlements with drug manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers. Pat believes we need to continue these efforts to combat waste and abuse by increasing funding for programs to tackle this problem and protect taxpayer dollars.
- Accelerating the deployment of new health information technologies that allow medical records to be shared among doctors with greater ease, increasing the quality of care of patients, reducing medical errors, and lowering costs.
- Providing tax credits for lower-income families who are not eligible for existing public coverage to defray the cost of purchasing health insurance. Families eligible for public coverage should also have the right to use their current public support to enroll in private plans if they choose.
- Establishing incentives and rewards to states that give states the tools to create their own innovative reforms to increase accessibility, reduce premiums, and lower health care costs
- Expanding Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) that allow individuals to save for future medical and retiree health expenses on a tax-free basis.
- Placing more emphasis on prevention and encouraging individuals to adopt healthy behaviors that can significantly reduce health care costs.
- Allowing for greater transparency in price and description of health care tests and procedures so that individuals can choose what works best for them and take control of their own health care decisions.
- Providing health insurance coverage for dependent children on a parent’s policy up the age of 26.
About Pat Meehan
A former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the former District Attorney of Delaware County, Pat Meehan has a proven record of rooting out government waste and corruption, prosecuting tough criminal cases, and implementing innovative new programs to make our communities safer. As U.S. Attorney, Meehan helped coordinate the region’s terrorism preparedness and response, held manufacturers responsible for illegally discharging hazardous materials into the region’s waters, and established a group to crackdown on predatory lending. Pat, his wife Carolyn and their three sons Patrick, Jack and Colin, reside in Drexel Hill, Delaware County. For more information, please visit www.meehanforcongress.com.
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