Republican Health Position

Frank Luntz’ GOP pollster, has advised Republicans that they should not attack President Obama’s health care principles without offering an alternative. “It’s not enough to just say what you ‘re against; you have to tell them what you’re for.” Since then, two different groups of Republicans have released separate health care bills. One is the Patients Choice Act ; the other is the Medical Rights Act. CBS News has observed that the effort “stands little chance of progressing in the Democrat-led Congress, but it makes a clear statement that the Republican party can emerge as the party of new ideas, as Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele said. However, there is nothing new in these plans. Moreover, both sponsoring groups are more interested in characterizing the Democrats’ effort as a government takeover of health care than offering real policy solutions.

Senator Coburn [R-OK] said that as a practicing physician, I have seen first-hand how giving government more control over health care has failed to make health care more affordable and accessible. He said in a statement ‘ Nothing will rally ordinary Americans against the President’s plan more than his allies arguing too forcefully for a system run by politicians and bureaucrats in Washington, the authors of the Patients Choice Act wrote in an editorial introducing the legislation.

Both bills act as ideological arguments against greater government spending on health care and don’t represent solutions to the health care crises.

Source: The Progress Report, May 22, 2009