Issues

Rising Health Care Costs

    • Redirect existing funding from third parties (government health programs, hospital systems, and insurance companies) directly to patients through mechanisms such as Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).

    • When patients are in control of the dollars, providers will compete for their business on both price and quality. This will drive price transparency in the marketplace while empowering patients with access to the highest-quality of care.

    • Focus on providing access to care across an abundance of providers, forcing them to compete for patient business by offering competitive pricing. Through competition and widespread access, market forces will bring down health care costs.

    • Send more money to insurance companies and government health programs to “cover” Americans instead of guaranteeing we can access quality care.

Weak Social Safety Net

    • Build state programs that lower insurance premiums for high-risk, low-income individuals, and allow tax-deductible contributions to financial accounts specifically for medical care.

    • Let patients choose a health savings plan that best meets their needs, and if they don’t need care in a given year, they can save for when they do. Examples include health savings accounts (HSAs) and health reimbursement accounts (HRAs), which allow patients to set aside dollars for medical care tax-free.

    • Reform federal programs that misallocate dollars away from patients, such as the 340B Drug Discount Program.

    • Increase payments to wasteful government programs like Medicaid and Medicare that spend less on patient care each year and more on administrative waste.

Lack of Access to Care

    • Increase patient and provider agency by repealing anticompetitive regulations that prevent qualified health care professionals from providing care.

    • Eliminate or reform barriers and regulations that decrease the supply of health care professionals and facilities.

    • Continue to financially support large hospital systems through more taxes and wasteful government spending, while these hospital networks continue to corner the health care market and increase prices by buying smaller doctor offices.

Lack of Price Transparency

    • Build upon a government price transparency mandate by returning health care control and dollars back to patients, so patients can not only shop for value, but also know what care they can afford.

    • When patients have full control over their health care choices and transparent prices, they can make the best care decisions based on value and need, not third-party guidance.

    • Mandate that hospitals and other providers publicly list prices for medical procedures, such as imaging, minor surgeries, and routine treatments so patients are more informed consumers and can shop for value.