Trivedi's Statements on Health Insurance Reform

from the inbox:

One week from today, on September 23rd, many pieces of the recent health insurance reforms will go into effect. As the nation prepares to take advantage of these reforms, Dr. Manan Trivedi, Democratic nominee for Pennsylvania's 6th Congressional District, released the following statement:

"In a week, many of the best pieces of the recent health insurance reforms will go into effect. As I have stated in the past, certainly there were flaws in the Affordable Care Act. As I have also stated, this legislation did not go far enough to control costs. There is so much work ahead of us to bring health costs down and ensure the law is effectively enacted, but as a physician, I know there are good elements in those reforms.

"Congressman Jim Gerlach has recently called for 'repeal and replace.' Don't be fooled. Once they throw out all of the progress that was made in this law, they will leave us without any reforms, back in a reality where insurance companies would be brought back into the center of our health care, standing between patients and doctors, not providing preventive care, rescinding coverage when a patient gets sick, and denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions. We would return to a system that is the most expensive in the world while still leaving 50 million uninsured. Instead of scrapping our achievements, let’s take the best of the reforms and continue to work to cut costs and cover more. ‘Repeal and replace’ is an excuse for those Washington politicians who are unwilling to do the hard work necessary to make this law better. As a physician, when a patient comes to me with an ailment that may seem difficult to cure, I don’t kick them out the door and ask for an easier patient to deal with. I fix the situation in front of me and that is exactly what Congress should begin to do immediately.

"The next, crucial step for our health system is to get a handle on rapidly rising costs in healthcare. The dirty secret in medicine, which I have seen firsthand, is that 30% of everything we do does absolutely nothing to improve your health. We can save ourselves and our nation so much money, if only we can figure out where that 30% is. That’s why I will rein in costs over the long-term by supporting comparative effectiveness research—studies that will help us really figure out what works and what doesn’t work in healthcare. We also must expand health information technology, better utilize chronic disease management programs, standardize best practices and focus more on wellness, all of which have been proven to reduce costs and improve quality.

"Next Thursday, more people in our nation will be healthier at a more affordable rate. These reforms are first steps toward higher quality, more affordable health care for all. Rather than knocking them all down, we must build upon them by ensuring that all aspects of the reforms are executed efficiently and that our future strides focus squarely on bringing down overall health care costs."

Manan Trivedi is the Democratic nominee for Congress in Pennsylvania's 6th Congressional District. He is a primary care physician, a former Lt. Commander in the U.S. Navy, and an Iraq War veteran from Berks County.

To learn more about Dr. Trivedi's position on health care, click here:
http://www.trivediforcongress.com/issues/view_issue.php?id=6

To learn more about the health insurance reforms coming into effect Sept. 23rd, click here:
http://www.healthcare.gov/law/introduction/index.html