Petition Congress for Common-Sense Health Care Reforms

I do hereby petition my elected officials in Congress to abandon plans for a government takeover of our health care system. I agree with the Wall Street Journal's assessment that this legislation will be destructive on every level — for the health care system, for the country’s fiscal condition, and for America's future freedom and prosperity.

I urge you to instead support common-sense, incremental reform measures that have the support of a majority of Americans. I believe common-sense health care reforms should embrace the following ten principles:

1. RESPECT FOR LIFE: protecting life, from conception through natural death.

2. PATIENT CHOICE: preserving an individual’s right to choose their own health care plan, doctors, facilities and treatments.

3. ACCESS: enabling people to get the treatment they need, when they need it, without delay or denial of service.

4. COST REDUCTIONS: making health insurance and medical care more affordable, especially for the poor.

5. FAIRNESS: providing the same tax savings to individuals who purchase their own insurance as is provided to those who obtain insurance through their employers.

6. DEFICIT NEUTRAL: ensuring that reform measures do not increase our national debt.

7. PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY: creating incentives for individuals to take responsibility for managing their own health care.

8. LIMITED GOVERNMENT: ensuring that individuals in consultation with their doctors will have the freedom to determine the care that is best for them. Government should not intervene in the doctor/patient relationship or overstep its Constitutional authority.

9. PORTABILITY: allowing individuals to take their insurance with them when they change jobs.

10. PRIVACY: protecting patient privacy, including restricting government access to private medical information.


Some examples of common sense health care reforms that should be enacted include:

1. EXPAND COMPETITION by repealing government restrictions which prevent insurance companies from offering plans across state lines.

2. EQUALIZE TAX LAWS so employer-provided and individually-owned health insurance have the same tax benefits.

3. ELIMINATE GOVERNMENT MANDATES that drive-up the cost of insurance for all people.

4. ENACT TORT REFORM to end frivolous lawsuits that force doctors to practice defensive medicine and pay astronomical insurance rates.

5. EXPAND HEALTH SAVINGS ACCOUNTS coupled with high-deductible health plans to increase price transparency and create true competition by putting consumers' in-charge of spending their own health care dollars.

6. IMPROVE PURCHASING POWER for individuals and small employers by allowing them to form purchasing pools across state lines.

7. INCREASE PRICE TRANSPARENCY so consumers can understand the true costs of their health care and shop for the best price.

8. REFORM MEDICARE to eliminate the projected $38 trillion in unfunded government obligations.

9. USE SUBSIDIZED PRIVATE INSURANCE to provide coverage for the poor instead of implementing massive government-directed bureaucracies.

10. OFFER INCENTIVES TO ENCOURANCE HEALTHLY LIFESTYLES so that individuals will take more responsibility for managing their own health.

11. REQUIRE PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP for all individuals that receive taxpayer-subsidized coverage.

12. REQUIRE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO ADOPT THE SAME PLAN that they impose on the American people.