Foxx Calls For Health Care Reform

The following is from a March 11, 2010 press release from NC Congresswoman Virginia Foxx.

Foxx calls for health care reform that cuts costs, empowers patients
Says current bill is too expensive and government-focused, won’t cut costs

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Virginia Foxx in a speech before the House of Representatives called for “common sense” health care reform that empowers patients rather than government or insurance companies. In her remarks she focused on the need to cut costs and not create expensive new federal government programs.

Foxx’s full statement follows. A video of Foxx’s remarks can be found here: www.youtube.com/user/RepVirginiaFoxx#p/a/u/0/kARdzdPNZKY

Madam Speaker, the American people have spoken loud and clear: they do not want a government takeover of health care. They want sensible, step by step health care reform that works. But the White House is not listening. Instead they’re proposing expensive new entitlements that will only worsen the federal government’s finances and North Carolina family budgets.

At least there is one thing we agree on: we need to have a bill that will lower the cost of health care in American. But you don’t lower the cost of health care in America by creating expensive, new government-run programs.

The best way to lower the cost of health care is by empowering patients. Putting patients in charge of their health care—not insurance companies and not the government—is the solution.

While I agree with the President Obama that we need to lower the cost of health care, the problem is that his proposals—which are simply retreads of the House and Senate bills—won’t really lower costs—they are simply a trillion dollar expansion of government control.

Lower costs will stem from patients who are empowered and making health care decisions, through innovations like expanded Health Savings Accounts, and by making sure that the trial lawyers who are driving up the cost of health care with a blizzard of frivolous lawsuits are reined in.

So we should start over. Starting over is the single best way to produce bipartisan legislation that the public can support.

We should focus on working step-by-step to enact common sense health care reform that will lower costs for families and small businesses and expand access to affordable, high-quality care.

Republicans have been talking about a step-by-step approach for months. This approach would allow individuals to buy health care across state lines, cover people with pre-existing conditions, improve access to Health Savings Accounts, as well as enact medical liability reform.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that such a common-sense plan would reduce deficits by $68 billion and reduce private insurance premiums by up to 10 percent.

This is a plan that doesn’t grow the government. And it’s a plan that reduces costs without a government-takeover and without breaking the budget or soaking taxpayers. Mr. Speaker, it’s a plan that will work for the American people.