Health Care Reform

For over 25 years I was honored to serve as a Doctor to the people of North Texas, in 2002 those same people allowed me to take my expertise in health care to the halls of Congress in Washington, D.C. I know firsthand how important health care is to each individual. One of my primary reasons for running for Congress was my desire to help reform our health care system and make it more affordable and accessible for everyone. As a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and its subcommittee on Health, I have a unique opportunity to be in a position to help work towards those goals.

In the weeks following the election of Barack Obama in November of 2008, I sat down and visited with a member of the President-elect's staff who would be heading up his Congressional Affairs office. I wanted to convey to the President-elect and his staff that I did not believe that health care should be a partisan issue and I offered my services to work with the newly elected President and his Administration on health care reform. The staffer and President Obama have echoed my concern, making health care reform one of his key focuses. He has stated that he will not sign off on a health care bill unless it accomplishes three goals. The first goal is to lower the cost of health care for the consumer. The second goal is to make sure that those Americans who are currently happy with their health care coverage can keep it. The third and final goal is to provide coverage for all those who are currently uninsured, whether because of pre-existing conditions or because they simply can't afford it.

I completely agree with all three of the President's goals, but I have different ideas of how to best achieve these goals. Throughout this year, I have tried to be a forceful and vocal advocate for health care legislation aimed at reducing health care costs, improving choices, reforming liability laws to put the needs of patients first, and ensuring there are enough doctors to care for America's patients. I believe we can accomplish these goals by empowering patients and doctors, instead of turning more control over to the federal government, and I will continue to push for the right kind of reforms.

Unfortunately, the health care reform bill that was considered before the committee I serve on, H.R. 3200, America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 did not accomplish these goals. I voted against H.R. 3200 because I believe that it is fatally flawed. As this issue continues its consideration in Congress, I will continue to fight for the reforms in health care that I believe will make it more affordable and accessible to everyone and against those ideas which would simply turn over our health care decisions to the federal government.