When Tim went to Harrisburg as a state senator, he immediately took on the powerful entrenched interests, and pushed through a Patients' Bill of Rights for all Pennsylvanians. This landmark legislation guaranteed that patients – not their insurance companies – would pick their doctor. It isn't any surprise then that when Tim went to Washington, he took up the challenge of reforming America’s health care system.
With dogged determination, Tim has served the interests of working families, using the co-chairmanship of the 21st Century Health Care Caucus and the Mental Health Caucus as a platform for national reform. He’s been a leader in efforts to lower health care costs, bring health care to the uninsured and underinsured, and guarantee a health care system that’s focused on patients’ needs and safety.
Much of the current debate on health care is misguided. Instead of concentrating just on who pays for your medical care, Congress should be paying closer attention to what you're paying for. In a health care system that costs $2 trillion a year, almost $500 billion is wasted. Health care is too expensive because of obstacles and inefficiencies that drive up costs, compromise care, and increase the chances of life-threatening errors. Relentless government regulation and bureaucracy also contribute significantly to high costs for patients and doctors alike.
As a health care professional, Tim believes that focusing on the quality of care will both improve outcomes for patients and lower costs for consumers. Unnecessary tests, procedures, and paperwork cost Americans an additional $150 billion each year. Even worse, over 90,000 people will die this year from infections they acquired in hospitals and clinics. Not only is this a tragedy for those families, but it is also a burden for taxpayers who spend tens of billions treating those who are sickened by the very health care system they turn to for treatment.
The solution to these problems isn’t insurance-centered health care or government-centered health care. It’s patient-centered health care.
Tim has taken this philosophy to Congress, leading the fight for lower health care costs, increased access for the uninsured and underinsured, and electronic prescriptions and medical records that reduce costs and save lives. He's worked to guarantee your right to know about the quality of your doctors and the performance of our hospitals. He's worked to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid, so those valuable programs can continue to protect our most vulnerable patients: older adults and children. To reduce errors and infections in health care delivery, Tim introduced the Healthy Hospitals Act. He's also supported providing health care to needy children, and opposed $100 billion in Medicare cuts.
The government shouldn’t be choosing your doctor and your treatment; you should. Tim will keep working to make sure people in Washington understand that. And he won't stop working until quality, affordable health care is accessible to everyone.
