WASHINGTON, DC - The Subcommittee on Health, chaired by Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-PA), today held a hearing examining ways to advance patient solutions that lead to lower costs and better care. The hearing builds off of a hearing last month examining patient-centered reforms.
“More government bureaucracy, regulations, and spending never successfully reduce the price of health care," stated Chairman Pitts. “Yet that is exactly the premise of how health insurance is regulated today - with top down mandates that empower Washington and remove control over health care decisions from states, small businesses, families and individuals. This has to be changed if we truly want bottom up solutions that provide better care at lower costs for patients."
Rep. Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX) shared his personal experience as an Obamacare enrollee saying, “I actually had an unsubsidized individual market policy in the federal fallback exchange in Texas, and I had that for a couple of years until it got too expensive and I had to find something else. But it was hard to get in to Obamacare, and then it was hard to get out of. … Three months, four months after I’ve left Obamacare, I’m getting these e-mails. You know, the open enrollment period’s closed, you missed your chance, but doggonit you can still get in - there’s a big yellow button there you can click on and we can perhaps help you find a backdoor back into Obamacare if you like."
Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA) raised concerns about CMS’s oversight on the state exchanges. In highlighting CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt’s misleading testimony before the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, Murphy asked Grace-Marie Turner, Founder, President, and Trustee of the Galen Institute, if the agency was providing adequate oversight and for her comments on the report. Ms. Turner stated that oversight has been lax, and more is needed - and should have been present at the start of these exchanges. Ms. Turner also encouraged Acting Administrator Slavitt to provide a thorough accounting for his comments before the subcommittee. “The taxpayers require that," she added.
When examining Rep. Rick Allen’s (R-GA) bill to recoup money from failed state exchanges, Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) asked Sara Collins, Vice President of Health Coverage and Access at the Commonwealth Fund, if the money should be returned. Ms. Collins replied, “I completely agree, unspent funds should be returned."
Rep. Bill Flores (R-TX) spoke about his bill examining grace periods. When asking the witnesses about the economics of health care and how these grace periods affect local physicians and their practices, Doug Holtz-Eakin, President of the American Action Forum, said, “Costs are incurred, and they will be paid in one form or another. They typically don’t disappear."
Additional information on today’s hearing, including a background memo, witness testimony and an archived video can be found on our website here. Related Items
* Advancing Patient Solutions for Lower Costs and Better Care
