The health care plan the White House outlined this morning is not a serious attempt to address the concerns the American people have expressed about the Democrats’ bills. Nor does it truly include important policy changes Republicans have been pushing to lower health care costs, like ending junk lawsuits that force doctors to practice defensive medicine.
Even as the details are still being worked out by Democrats and special interests behind closed doors, it is clear this bill, like the Democrat bills that passed the House and Senate, is another massive, government takeover of health care that will increase the cost of health insurance, explode the deficit, and slash Medicare benefits.
From the beginning, Republicans have listened to the American people and offered reforms that lower health care premiums for families and small businesses. The bill I and House Republicans proposed last fall implements common sense solutions focused on lowering costs. Our bill ensures nobody will be denied coverage on the basis of a pre-existing condition. It gives states the tools to implement their own innovative reforms. And we put an end to the junk lawsuits that are forcing doctors to practice defensive medicine and drive up the cost of health insurance for all Americans. All the details of our plan are available at healthcare.gop.gov — where they have been for months.
There is still time to wipe the slate clean and start over on a set of common sense reforms that will lower health care costs. I hope the president and Democrats in Congress will agree to do so before Thursday’s summit. That is what the American people want and what Republicans have offered and will continue to work for.
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