Tom Price: “as a third-generation physician, I have seen our health care system drive patients and doctors further and further…”

“as a third-generation physician, I have seen our health care system drive patients and doctors further and further apart. The problem with our current system is that patients are prevented from having immediate control and ownership over critical health care decisions. Right now, employers or the government determine which health benefits are included in an insurance policy, and it may not be what the patient needs or wants. When patients voice their concerns, insurance companies respond with a deaf ear because the patient cannot change the policy. They are excluded from that decision. Nearly nine out of ten companies with fewer than 200 employees offer only one health plan. What this means is that the person most affected by the health care, the patient, has little or no input into the type of coverage they have. Patients should be able to control their health care. Mr. Speaker, we should think about health care in a way that gives patients the power to select who takes care of them and where, that puts health care choices back in the hands of patients. Defined contribution plans do this, and they are the hallmark of H. Res. 215, the Health Insurance Patient Ownership Plan. I ask my colleagues for their support on this new initiative. ____________________”