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Now that the Republicans are in charge of the House, lawmakers are licking their chops at repealing the health care law signed last March by President Obama. This plan has been in the works for a while. In fact, six weeks before Election Day, Republican leaders unveiled their legislative agenda for 2011 called “A Pledge to America.” In their “Pledge,” Republicans include their plan to repeal “Obamacare” and fix the health care system. Here is their plan:
OUR PLAN TO REPEAL THE JOB KILLING HEALTH CARE LAW AND PUT IN PLACE REAL REFORM
Repeal the Costly Health Care Takeover of 2010
Because the new health care law kills jobs, raises taxes, and increases the cost of health care, we will immediately take action to repeal this law.
Enact Medical Liability Reform
Skyrocketing medical liability insurance rates have distorted the practice of medicine, routinely forcing doctors to order costly and often unnecessary tests to protect themselves from lawsuits, often referred to as “defensive medicine.” We will enact common-sense medical liability reforms to lower costs, rein in junk lawsuits and curb defensive medicine.
Purchase Health Insurance across State Lines
Americans residing in a state with expensive health insurance plans are locked into those plans and do not currently have an opportunity to choose a lower cost option that best meets their needs. We will allow individuals to buy health care coverage outside of the state in which they live.
Expand Health Savings Accounts
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are popular savings accounts that provide cost-effective health insurance to those who might otherwise go uninsured. We will improve HSAs by making it easier for patients with high-deductible health plans to use them to obtain access to quality care. We will repeal the new health care law, which prevents the use of these savings accounts to purchase over-the-counter medicine.
Strengthen the Doctor-Patient Relationship
We will repeal President Obama’s government takeover of health care and replace it with common-sense reforms focused on strengthening the doctor-patient relationship.
Ensure Access for Patients with Pre-Existing Conditions
Health care should be accessible for all, regardless of pre-existing conditions or past illnesses. We will expand state high-risk pools, reinsurance programs and reduce the cost of coverage. We will make it illegal for an insurance company to deny coverage to someone with prior coverage on the basis of a pre-existing condition, eliminate annual and lifetime spending caps, and prevent insurers from dropping your coverage just because you get sick. We will incentivize states to develop innovative programs that lower premiums and reduce the number of uninsured Americans.
Permanently Prohibit Taxpayer Funding of Abortion
We will establish a government-wide prohibition on taxpayer funding of abortion and subsidies for insurance coverage that includes abortion. This prohibition would go further and enact into law what is known as the Hyde Amendment as well as ban other instances of federal subsidies for abortion services. We will also enact into law conscience protections for health care providers, including doctors, nurses, and hospitals.
This is all well and good but where did the “Pledge” address SGR and finding a permanent fix to the Medicare reductions which have physician’s practices all over the nation reducing staff, deferring the purchase of new equipment and limiting their Medicare patient population.