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."
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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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