Health Care

I recognize the frustrations many Americans have with the current cost and delivery of health care. As a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, as well as a former small business owner, I am particularly aware of the problems our nation faces regarding health care and am sensitive to the struggles hard-working Americans face when trying to gain access to adequate and affordable health care.

Opposition to a Government Takeover of Health Care

In March, Democrats in Congress and President Obama forced onto the American people a deeply flawed, unpopular health care bill that included special backroom deals for certain states in order to win the votes of specific members of Congress. This is the height of political arrogance.

I voted against the Democrats’ health care reform legislation because I believe it would raise taxes, raise premiums, cut benefits for seniors and place a massive unfunded mandate on Georgia and other states to pay for its expansion of Medicaid.

The passage of this health care bill ignores the will of most Georgians and most Americans, who have expressed strong, vocal opposition to the bill. Americans need a Congress and a president that are focused on fixing our struggling economy, not engineering a government takeover of our health care system.

To that end, I have joined with my Republican colleagues in working to repeal and replace this health care bill. Additionally, I support the efforts of the state attorneys general who are suing the federal government over the constitutionality of the bill.

Health Care Solutions

With 44 million uninsured Americans in this country, it is critical that Congress find market-based solutions for providing access to affordable health insurance for all Americans. I am committed to enhancing our nation’s health care through legislation that will reduce cost, improve quality, and increase accessibility for all Americans.

I believe the key to health care reform is stimulating competition in a market-based system that will encourage private health insurers and managed care providers to compete for business and make health insurance more affordable for consumers.

I believe Congress should start over with a step-by-step process to expand access to preventative and wellness care, which will help control the cost of managing chronic diseases and drive down cost of treating largely preventable conditions. I believe that we can all agree on the need to eliminate insurance coverage rejection due to pre-existing conditions and cancellation as a result of developing a condition. I also believe that it is vital to enroll all of those already eligible for Medicare, Medicaid, and State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) in those programs.

Finally, I also support repealing the prohibition of insurance sales across state lines to increase portability and competition as well as allowing small businesses to pool together to form association health plans.

Consistent with these views, I co-sponsored S.1099, the “Patients’ Choice Act,” which seeks to strengthen doctor-patient relationships by using choice and competition rather than rationing and restrictions to contain costs and ensure access to affordable health care for all Americans.

Health Insurance for Small Business

I know firsthand how difficult it is for small businesses to provide health insurance to their employees because I faced the same challenge when I ran a small business for more than 20 years. Of the 44 million Americans who lack health insurance, some 62 percent of them are either employed by a small business or dependent on someone who is.

I support legislation that would allow small businesses to pool together, nationally, to create association health plans and either purchase their health insurance from a provider, or self insure in the same way that large employers and unions currently do. This would give small businesses the same market-based advantages and competitive leverage that large employers and unions enjoy when providing employees health insurance. It would also open the doors to affordable health insurance to millions who have no insurance, as well as help to stem the tide of rising health care costs.

Medicare Prescription Drugs

I understand the frustration seniors have with the price of prescription drugs, and I am a strong supporter of access to affordable health care coverage. Congress has created Medicare Part D as an option for seniors to help pay for prescription drugs. The Medicare prescription drug plan is the first federally funded insurance program for prescription drugs, and many seniors have saved money through these plans.

Under Medicare Part D, public hospitals, private providers, insurance companies and pharmacies all negotiate their drug prices with drug manufacturers. With so many providers negotiating with drug companies, you get maximum competition and better prices.

The program has recently seen great success. Through competition, providers are competing for the lowest price and premiums are down 30 percent since the bill went into effect. Thanks to the Medicare Modernization Act, seniors are able to access a prescription drug plan that provides the most choice at the best possible price.

Reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program

The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (known in Georgia as PeachCare) has proven to be a success across all 50 states, and I would like to make sure the program remains true to its original intent of “access to health care for children.” I am also working diligently to help revise the funding formula of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program so that states such as Georgia will receive appropriate compensation for the children they enroll.

I believe formula updates for this program must encourage states to enroll as many eligible children as possible without penalization. Formulary flaws in the past have contributed to programs such as Georgia’s PeachCare running out of money in fiscal year 2007. Although emergency funding was appropriated to fix this shortfall, one of my goals is to ensure that this situation does not happen again. The program needs to have updated formulas that reward states for lowering the number of uninsured children and appropriately allocate funds based on population and growth data.

Stem Cell Research

Stem cell research is an important issue, and I have tried to approach the debate in as careful a manner as possible. I understand both the potential that such research holds as well as its moral implications.

I have consulted preeminent scholars and researchers around the country who are on the verge of breakthroughs in several areas and believe that embryonic stem cell research could hold the key to their success. In every meeting or conversation I’ve had on this issue, I also have raised the moral implications that concern us all. Certain methods of obtaining embryonic stem cells could destroy a potential life in the process, and that is unacceptable. There are also concerns that this research could lead to human cloning or fetal farming, both of which I adamantly oppose.

In 2007, I introduced S.30, the Hope Offered through Principled and Ethical Stem Cell Research (HOPE) Act. The HOPE Act allows science to move forward in an ethical and moral way by permitting federal funding of scientific research that does not harm embryos, such as deriving cells from amniotic fluid and placentas and from embryos that have died naturally. I was extremely pleased that an overwhelming, bipartisan majority of my Senate colleagues voted in support of the HOPE Act. The vote was an affirmation of the need to expand embryonic stem cell research. It was also an affirmation that there is a way to expand this important research while still respecting the ethical and moral concerns that exist.

Drug Reimportation

I am concerned with the high price of prescription drugs, but I disagree that importing drugs from other countries is the answer. I will always support policies that protect consumers by requiring all prescription drugs to be approved for safety measures, regardless of their country of origin. I believe a ban on importation is appropriate unless the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services can ensure the quality and safety of imported drugs. As the world leader in health care innovation, the United States is looked to for standards of safety. The Food and Drug Administration has a duty to preserve our standards by providing that all drugs purchased and brought into the United States are safe.