House health care reform team posts principles

A Republican-led House Task Force on Health Care Reform says in a new mission statement that it wants to “modernize American health care with patient-centered solutions.”

The solutions should “improve access, choice, and quality, lower costs, promote innovation and strengthen the safety net for the most vulnerable,” the task force says in the mission statement.

The Patient Protection and Care Act (PPACA) — Obamacare  — “is proof that putting the government at the center of our health care system harms patients, families, providers and businesses,” the task force says. “This is why we need to replace Obamacare’s obsolete, one-size-fits-all approach with innovative, market-based, patient-centered solutions.”

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In a list of five principles included with the mission statement, the task force says consumers should have more choices, fewer mandates and more portable coverage.

One principle is that an alternative to PPACA should “protect the quality of care for all patients — including those with pre-existing conditions,” the task force says.

House Speaker Paul Ryan helped organize the task force in January, while he was still chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee.

The current task force co-chairmen are Reps. Tom Price, R-Ga., who leads the House Budget Committee; John Kline, R-Minn., head of the House Education and the Workforce Committee; Fred Upton, R-Mich., head of the House Energy & Commerce Committee; and Kevin Brady, R-Texas, who succeeded Ryan as chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee.