Issue Topics

Health Care - Choice, Flexibility and Accountability

We need to enact smart, sensible reform policies that give individuals full ownership over their health care dollars and decisions. I soundly reject the concept of rationed care and a single-payer, nationalized health care system. The better approach is to support fair competition that will make care more flexible and affordable. At the same time, we all must remain accountable for the decisions we make and must work together to contain exploding health care costs. My health care plan is based on four key principles: Make Health Care a Consumer-Driven System. Our health care system is primarily driven by employer-provided coverage. This outdated mode of providing health insurance drives up costs by eliminating choice. It emphasizes health care spending rather than access to quality health care and savings. Although many politicians ignore this, the employer-based system results in driving down real wages, hurting consumers no matter their level of income. Our tax code favors this type of system by doling out enormous tax breaks to employers who provide coverage.  We need to level the playing field for those individuals who want to purchase health care insurance elsewhere. Consumers should have the ability to use their hard-earned money to purchase insurance through a trade association, a religious organization or some other affinity group. Give Individuals Control Over Health Care Dollars, Particularly Through Health Savings Accounts. Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), defined contribution benefits and tax credits allow families to retain more control over their health care decisions. Our federal policy must be geared towards rewarding these incentives and returning control over health care dollars back to working families and individuals. Invest in Preventive Care. Our health care system must support preventive medicine, disease management and wellness programs. Investing in preventive care will encourage healthy lifestyles and avoid the costs associated with expensive prescription drugs. Support Cost Containment Initiatives. Health care costs have spiraled out of control. We must invest in and support information technology systems that have inexplicably lagged behind those in other key industries. We must also remove certain unnecessary regulations that only add layers of cost to an already expensive system. Cost containment initiatives should focus on removing duplicative oversight of health facilities and professionals, creating health courts to resolve liability disputes, and streamlining a costly FDA approval process that delays bringing life-saving drugs to market. For more information on Senator Lauzen’s health care policies, please click here.