Pat Roberts' Principles for Health Care Reform

Senator Roberts believes our health insurance system is in need of reform – but it has to be done the right way. That includes protecting the health benefits of millions of Kansans who are generally happy with their insurance coverage...and reforming the system for those who lack good coverage and are in need.

Roberts believes guaranteeing access to health insurance for all Americans should include:

Preventing health insurers from denying coverage for people with pre-existing conditions;
Ensuring patients have choices when it comes to picking health care providers;
Finding state-based...rather than federal government-run...solutions to cover the uninsured and to protect patients from catastrophic health care costs;
Changing the tax code to enable people without access to employer-sponsored health insurance to deduct their premiums;
Providing incentives for individual responsibility that allow insurers to reward healthy behaviors;
Improving transparency in health care quality and costs so that patients have more information on how to best spend their health care dollar; and
Reducing health care costs overall through reform of our medical liability system.

Senator Roberts strongly opposes current proposals and bills working through the House and Senate that would:

Establish a government-run health insurance plan, resulting in single-payer healthcare and government rationing

Impose policies that place the federal government in the middle of the doctor-patient relationship;

Impose cuts to Medicare to fund a new entitlement program that would cost Americans trillions of dollars in new taxes;

Impose an individual mandate to purchase health insurance; and,

Impose an employer-mandate to provide health insurance, which would threaten jobs and the economy.

Press Releases

Pat Roberts' Principles for Health Care Reform

Sep 16 2009