Rep. Tom Price: Another Speech vs. Real Solutions

Your Washington – GA 6 – Desk

From Congressman Tom Price

Another Speech vs. Real Solutions

On Thursday, President Obama gave yet another speech on the economy. While we can all agree that it is encouraging to see jobs being created, for millions of Americans, today’s economy is underperforming. And, unfortunately, the president’s rhetoric never seems to match the reality –not when paychecks can’t keep up with everyday living expenses or when Americans are simply dropping out of the labor force altogether.

If President Obama wants to talk, we’d encourage him to call Majority Leader Reid in the Senate and ask him to take up one of the more than forty jobs bills the House of Representatives has sent over. Our solutions rein in regulatory red tape, expand American-made energy, break down barriers to hiring more veterans and empower students and parents. Many of these proposals have bipartisan support. They represent real solutions, not empty rhetoric.

The president’s speech came one day after the one-year anniversary of the beginning of Obamacare enrollment. For years, the Obama Administration and its allies in Washington defended and celebrated Obamacare by making one promise after another to the American people. One year after enrollment began, those promises have been predictably broken. Premiums and out-of-pocket expenses have gone up. Access and choices have gone down due to narrower provider networks. Many Americans have been kicked off the plan they had, losing access to the doctors and hospitals they knew and trusted. American job creators – particularly small businesses – are dealing with the fallout from Obamacare’s regulations that punish job creation and economic growth.

Thankfully, like our efforts on the broader economy, education and energy, we have solutions to the challenges in our health care system that can both stop the harm being done by Obamacare and fix what has ailed our health care system for years. The Empowering Patients First Act that I have introduced for three straight Congresses expands access to quality health care by ensuring Americans have the financial wherewithal to purchase the coverage they want for themselves, not that Washington dictates to them. It solves the challenges of portability and pre-existing conditions by letting folks own their coverage and take it with them even if they change a job or lose a job. By giving individuals and families the opportunity to pool together with others to gain the purchasing power of millions, we can make it so no one is priced out of the market even if they have a bad diagnosis or injury. Our plan will save billions of dollars each year by enacting meaningful lawsuit abuse reform to end the practice of defensive medicine.

On the eve of another enrollment period, Obamacare is putting Washington in charge by breaking promises and undermining the doctor-patient relationship. We can change that with positive solutions that put patients, families and doctors in charge of health care decisions.