WASHINGTON – Republican Healthy Future Task Force co-chairs, Congressman Vern Buchanan (FL-16) and Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), penned an op-ed for the September edition of The Ripon Forum providing an overview of the Task Force’s proposed solutions ahead of the House GOP’s Commitment to America rollout this Friday.
“Democrats’ plans for socialized medicine and government-run health care will ultimately lead to fewer cures, worse care and limited choices. Republicans are prepared to improve the American health care system by getting policies signed into law that will lead to more cures and choices, better care and lower out-of-pocket costs for patients,” wrote the co-chairs in the op-ed.
After spending more than a year engaging with patients, doctors and companies developing medical technologies and therapies, members of the Healthy Future Task Force released their solutions to modernize, personalize and improve health care to help Americans live healthier and longer lives. House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy established the 17-member Healthy Future Task Force as part of the “Commitment to America” legislative and oversight plan.
Below are links to an overview of solutions from each Healthy Future Task Force subcommittee:
Click HERE to view the Modernization Subcommittee solutions.
Click HERE to view the Treatment Subcommittee solutions.
Click HERE to view the Security Subcommittee solutions.
Click HERE to view the Doctor-Patient Relationship Subcommittee solutions.
Click HERE to view the Affordability Subcommittee solutions.
You can read the full op-ed HERE or below.
The Ripon Forum
We Will Commit to a Healthier Future
By Congressmen Vern Buchanan and Brett Guthrie
Democrats’ attempts to “fix” problems in health care with a top-down, Washington-knows-best approach leave too many Americans without access to adequate care. After more than a year and a half of Democrat control in Washington, we have seen Democrats push for one-size-fits all, government-run health care that gives more power over patients’ health care to bureaucrats and enact laws that result in fewer medical cures for patients, higher launch prices for drugs, and subsidized health care for wealthy Americans.
Republicans’ Healthy Future Task Force, which we co-chair, has a different vision that involves modernizing, personalizing, and improving the health care system to help Americans live healthier, longer lives. The Task Force has spent over a year engaging the American people and listening to their experiences with the health care system. Our members hosted roundtables and heard directly from doctors, patients, and companies working on cutting-edge technologies and therapies.
With this information, we developed solutions to improve the health of all Americans by expanding choices, lowering costs, and modernizing treatment options. This approach is in stark contrast to Democrats’ big government health care failures.
When looking at ways to improve treatment, the Task Force’s proposals focus on promoting and supercharging the availability of lifesaving cures and therapies. To increase access, we are working on lowering costs of these new treatments and promoting American-made medicines to prevent patients from being held hostage by the global supply chain crisis.
Increasing choice, competition, and transparency is at the center of the Task Force’s solutions to make health care more affordable. Patients deserve to know the price they will pay before they receive care, which is why the Task Force is focused on unlocking a new, revolutionary wave of health care price transparency. Further, the Task Force has developed solutions to give businesses and employees more flexibility, including through association health plans and Health Savings Accounts, to offer or purchase, respectively, the most affordable health insurance policy that best meets employees’ needs.
In addition to expanding access to innovative health care technologies, we want to safeguard and maintain expanded telehealth access that patients, especially seniors, benefitted greatly from during the pandemic. Our solutions also aim to improve our nation’s fiscal health by cracking down on taxpayer dollars wasted on improper payments in government health care programs.
The Task Force believes public health security is national security. America learned a costly lesson regarding significant shortcomings within our public health system during the COVID-19 pandemic. We developed solutions to tackle future health crises by channeling the power of the private sector; using effective, transparent, accurate, and timely communications from government leaders to the American people during future pandemics; and ensuring our supply chains are secured. The Task Force also wants to see thorough investigations into COVID-19’s origins, policies that build upon the success of Operation Warp Speed, and accountability for the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
While Democrats want to put bureaucrats in charge of patients’ health care, Republicans know the doctor-patient relationship is foundational to quality care. The Task Force wants to get Washington out of the doctor’s office and remove federal mandates to ensure patients remain the focus of visits. We also want to ensure patients have access to quality care by promoting programs that bolster our health care workforce and improve access to real-time care.
Democrats’ plans for socialized medicine and government-run health care will ultimately lead to fewer cures, worse care, and limited choices. Republicans are prepared to improve the American health care system by getting policies signed into law that will lead to more cures and choices, better care, and lower out-of-pocket costs for patients.
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