Westerman introduces Fair Care Act

March 20-- Mar. 20--U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman of Arkansas introduced the Fair Care Act of 2019 in late February in an attempt to curb rising health care costs.

The bill aims to significantly overhaul the U.S. health care system by increasing the number of Americans with health insurance coverage while reducing premium costs. Westerman represents the state's Fourth District.

"Whether you're rich or poor, Republican or Democrat, young or old, you are affected in some way by health care," Westerman said in a news release. "America is blessed with cutting-edge medical technology, researchers and advancements, but we've also been fighting over health care for a decade. It's clear we must address the political gridlock and tension surrounding the health care debates."

The bill itself has five sections, and covers preexisting conditions, the release adds. The sections include:

--Private-sector health insurance reforms that aim to strengthen the Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges, lower health insurance premiums and implement Invisible High Risk Pools to cover preexisting conditions.

--Medicare and Medicaid reforms that are designed to promote solvency and increase access to quality health insurance plans.

--Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other reforms that are designed to promote transparency and competition among drug and device manufacturers. These also are geared to increase access to generic products and lower costs.

--Reforms aimed at increasing competition among hospitals and lowering costs by discouraging monopolies.

--Miscellaneous provisions affecting innovation and technology, bringing current laws into the 21st century.

Westerman noted that other provisions "create more efficient pathways for generic drug development, repeal of several Obamacare-era taxes, expand options in telehealth, reduce spending on Medicare drugs, increase competition among hospitals and reassignment of significant decision-making power to the states."

The congressman says the Fair Care Act includes bipartisan proposals, academic research and scientific data.

"My constituents and Americans across the country are struggling, and can't afford to wait for health care relief any longer," Westerman wrote. " We have little to no control over sudden health issues or preexisting conditions, but we are right to expect access to fair care. I'm excited to begin a national conversation on this issue, and look forward to working closely with Congress and the Trump administration to provide the best care for the American people."

As noted in a Feb. 25 article by Susannah Luthi for Modern Health, Westerman has been working on the bill more than a year and a half even though he doesn't sit on a House health committee.

Luthin observes the bill "signals the mounting unrest among individual members of Congress over high health care costs" and it is "feeding into the momentum from both sides to address hospital consolidation."

Avik Roy, a conservative policy adviser who was consulted on Westerman's bill, is quoted in the Modern Health article saying "If you're concerned about monopolies in general, I think there are people on the left and right who share that concern."

The article, which was provided by Westerman's office, states the proposed legislation would boost resources for the Federal Trade Commission "to go after mergers, reward states that repeal their certificate-of-need, scope-of-practice and any-willing-provider laws, and cut Medicare rates for hospitals in concentrated markets."

The Fair Care Act reflects proposals by U.S. Rep. Jim Banks (R-Indiana) that would "clamp down on consolidation and mergers" and key Democrats of the House Judiciary Committee, Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-New York) and David Cicilline (D-Rhode Island), which have an eye on antitrust issues in health care. Banks' proposal is co-sponsored by Westerman.

The Arkansas Hospital Association's policy team was unable to provide a comment on the bill Wednesday, an AHA spokesperson replied.

___

(c)2019 Times Record (Fort Smith, Ark.)

Visit Times Record (Fort Smith, Ark.) at www.swtimes.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.