On the recordJanuary 19, 2011
I rise today in support of H.R. 2, which repeals the job-destroying government takeover of health care. Voters rejected the ``government knows best'' philosophy in November. In contrast, Republicans believe that American innovation and reduced government control are keys to successful health reform that reduces health care costs. For instance, it's estimated that 1 percent of the most seriously ill account for more than 25 percent of all health care expenditures. What if we could improve the care of these patients and at the same time reduce costs? We can. We can by harnessing the power of innovation and health research in fields like regenerative medicine. Regenerative medicine develops technologies to replace or regenerate organs and tissues using the patient's own cells. These treatments could reduce the cost of chronic diseases by $275 billion a year. Consider the fact that Dr. Anthony Atala at the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University has been able successfully to grow bladders for bladder replacement surgeries from the recipient's own cells. Yet despite several successful bladder transplants, the FDA insists he go through additional clinical trials on animals and spend millions of dollars in testing that is clearly unnecessary based on his success with the human transplant surgeries.
