Feature:Opinion

‘Scheme and Deem’ Health care – Dr. Gingrey’s Diagnosis

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The practice of quality medicine is defined by the personal relationship a patient builds with his or her doctor.  Within the doctor-patient relationship, the two can confidentially decide how to treat, diagnose, and prescribe care – allowing the patients’ best interests to be number one priority.  As a practicing physician for 31 years, I am privileged to have this inside knowledge.  And as a physician Member of Congress I can say first hand that if Obamacare passes, quality health care will take a turn for the worse.  I truly believe this bill will destroy medicine as we know it.

Our current health care system most certainly needs to be reformed – its symptoms are beyond doubt.  Today, millions of sick patients cannot access health care and millions more cannot afford it.  But the bill at hand is the wrong remedy for Americans.  It spends too much, it taxes too much, and it costs too much.  Yet, worst of all, it undermines the heart and soul of our nation’s health care system – the personal and privileged doctor-patient relationship.  Obamacare peels back the privacy of that relationship by throwing a third party into the mix – the government.  The government neither has the experience nor the ability to make decisions that put patients first.  Simply put, doctors and physicians know what’s best for their patients and their welfare because they treat them individually, each case unique and requiring a personalized approach. The fact that the government wants to let bureaucrats call the shots – is downright insulting.

All obvious flaws aside, it rings loud and clear that the American people are against the healthcare reform at hand.  Shouldn’t it be a sign that something isn’t right when 73 percent of society says no?  More over, shouldn’t it be a wake up call when the Democrats can’t even convince their own party to support their legislation?  Apparently Speaker Pelosi and our Democratic leaders just don’t care, because they’ve essentially said, “Too bad. You’re getting it anyways.”  They’ve gone so far as to devise a plan which basically deems the Senate bill as having passed without even voting on the bill itself.  “Scheme and Deem” as I call it.  This is flat out unconstitutional as it steals the votes from 300 million American Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. Obamacare will affect one sixth of our nation’s economy and virtually every person in the United States – this is not something to be taken lightly.

Consider the real reason why Congress is in session this weekend.  Our Democratic leaders do not want Representatives (especially those still on the fence) going home to face their constituents.  Why?  Because they might hear first hand how dissatisfied Americans are with Obamacare and return to Washington with a change of heart.  This would go against the grain of Speaker Pelosi’s political agenda – which clearly comes before the best interests of our nation’s citizens.

Republicans have solutions that will protect the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship.  We’ve put them out in the open for America to see on our website www.gop.healthcare.gov in full disclosure.  We still stand ready to work with Democrats if they could just swallow a dose of reality, scrap this bill, and start anew.  America’s people deserve healthcare reform that is cured of back door deals and underlying political purposes.  I will fight this bill until the bitter end, because that’s what doctors do – we prescribe the best care possible for our patients.