DICK ZIMMER
QUESTION 3 RESPONSE
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No, I do not favor universal mandatory health care.

I believe all Americans should have access to affordable medical care and have supported a number of legislative reforms to help ensure access without imposing unwarranted government cost controls or sacrificing the principle of patient choice or the quality of medical care that at its best is recognized as the best in the world.

During the 103rd Congress, when health care reform was at the top of the legislative agenda, I opposed proposals creating a government-run national health care system, warning that they would result in higher taxes and the erosion of patient choice and quality of service. I also spoke out against proposals imposing government cost controls and employer mandates because both would result in the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs and the erosion of employee take-home pay.

Instead, I co-sponsored reform measures, including the bipartisan “Rowland-Bilirakis” bill that would have helped reduce health care costs and ensure universal access through a variety of measures, including litigation and insurance reforms, portability provisions, paperwork reduction measures, tax incentives and the elimination of preexisting health exclusions.

I also co-sponsored many bills that address specific elements of healthcare reform. Among them were bills to help establish Medical Savings Account (MSAs), which I strongly support as vehicles to give patients more direct control over their health care choices and costs. I co-sponsored the Health Care Savings Plan Act and the Family Medical Savings and Investment Act to provide tax incentives to encourage the establishment of MSAs. MSAs were enacted as part of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, which I cosponsored.

Over the years, I also co-sponsored legislation to curb medical malpractice costs, since one factor in escalating medical costs is the “defensive” medicine some doctors and hospitals have felt obligated to practice to protect themselves against unjustified lawsuits. In the 104th Congress, I co-sponsored the Common Sense Legal Reforms Act that included malpractice reforms later passed by the House, with my support.

I strongly favor measures that afford equitable tax treatment for health care costs. I co-sponsored legislation to restore a 25-percent tax deduction for health care insurance costs incurred by the self-employed, as well as measures to increase that deduction. My efforts paid off in April of 1995, when one of the measures I supported both in the Ways and Means Committee and on the House floor was enacted into law. It restored the 25 percent tax deduction to the self-employed retroactively for the 1994 tax year, and increased the deduction to 30 percent, starting in the 1995 tax year.

We must do more to encourage preventive health care, which would improve access to health care and result in healthier and more productive families while reducing costs. Prenatal health care programs and neighborhood clinics for those without a primary care physician are examples of initiatives that can both save money and improve results.

Likewise, with respect to chronic medical conditions such as diabetes, which account for a large and growing portion of our healthcare spending, government policies should encourage disease management programs, rather than compensating health care providers only for treatment of acute symptoms.

We must also do more to promote the use of digital technology in health care. ePrescriptions safeguard patient health by cutting down on errors and can save billions of dollars by improving efficiency. Likewise, digitizing health care records reduces mistakes where multiple physicians need access to a patient’s complete medical record.