Heritage Action for America's 2014 Conservative Policy Summit   ...3 of 3 >
Feb. 10, 2014 - Heritage Action for America's all-day Conservative Policy Summit provided a forum to present conservative proposals on a range of subjects.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) discussed a welfare reform bill, emphasizing "policies that empower people."  On the panel, Jennifer Marshall, director of domestic policy studies at the Heritage Foundation, likewise lauded policies that provide "a hand up, not a hand out" and Robert Woodson, Sr., founder and president of the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise, said, "We must come up with nongovernment interventions."
Rep. Tom Price, M.D. (R-GA) and Rep. Phil Roe, M.D. (R-TN) participated in a segment on "patient-centered health care."  Price noted that contrary to Democrats' claims, there are many Republican alternatives to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).  He outlined six principles of the Empowering Patients First Act (H.R. 2300), a bill originally developed by the Republican Study Committee and since refined and perfected: accessiblity, affordability, quality, responsiveness, innovation and choices.  He said the Affordable Care Act "violates every one of those principles."  After repealing the Affordable Care Act, Price's bill would, among other provisions, emphasize tax incentives.  Price spent a fair bit of time addressing the problem of defensive medicine, which, he said, according to one study, accounts for one out of every three health care dollars, or about $800 billion a year.  If doctors do the right thing "they ought to have a safe harbor in a court of law," Price said.  Roe said of the Affordable Care Act, "You could not have written anything more complicated."  "This bill is creating chaos," Roe said.  Participating in the panel, Grace Marie-Turner, president of the Galen Institute, said that 34 major changes have already been made to the Affordable Care Act showing that "it's not working."  Price said, "Real people are getting hurt because of this law."
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