Rep. Davis: House Continues ‘Phase Three’ of Health Care Reform

WASHINGTON, June 29 -- Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill., issued the following statement on the House's continued work on phase three of health care reform:

"Lowering health care costs and fixing our broken health care system are complicated issues that cannot be accomplished with just one bill, but I'm committed to fixing it," said Davis. "As the Senate continues to work through the process of repeal and replace, the House has started phase three of the process. We've passed several bills to lower costs, increase opportunities for group insurance, and improve the quality of care. Obamacare has increased costs by 108 percent for many of my constituents and insurance companies continue to leave the exchanges resulting in all 14 counties in the 13th District with only one or two health insurers. Letting the system completely collapse should not be an option for any member of Congress."

Last month, the House passed phase one, the American Health Care Act, which the Senate is now working through, and the administration began phase two to take regulatory steps to stabilize the market. Over the last month, the House began phase three by passing the following bills to reduce cost and improve care:

* H.R. 372, the Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act, eliminates anti-trust protection for insurance providers and creates competition so Americans are not left with one or two choices for health coverage - which is now the case for 75 percent of Illinois and all 14 counties in the 13th District.

* H.R. 1101, the Small Business Health Fairness Act, allows small businesses to pool together to purchase plans. This will allow them to negotiate better care and lower premiums for their workers.

* H.R. 1215, the Protecting Access to Care Act, prevents abusive lawsuits that cause higher premiums due to the high and unnecessary cost of defensive medicine. This bill limits non-economic damages, to put federal standards more in line with states who have reformed medical malpractice laws, and puts news limits on contingency fees on lawyers so patients get to keep more of their awards.

* H.R. 1304, the Self-Insurance Protection Act, protects workers who get their health care coverage from employers that self-insure, by providing a backstop on catastrophic losses.

More reforms are listed in A Better Way (https://abetterway.speaker.gov/?page=health-care) agenda.