House Tea Party Caucus member Tom Price (R-Ga.) introduced an important piece of legislation today in the fight for adequate health care. The bill – called the Medicare Patient Empowerment Act – would allow Medicare patients and health care professionals to contract freely outside the Medicare system.

 

“The current Medicare system is broken and unsustainable. Seniors are finding it increasingly difficult to find a physician. That is unacceptable and why – in addition to fundamental reforms of the Medicare system – we need common sense approaches to give our seniors the opportunity to make decisions with their physicians without interference from Washington. In addition to providing flexibility of care, this legislation will also help ensure seniors do not lose access to health care professionals and physicians – many of which are finding it harder to treat Medicare patients as the government continues to cut payments for services and impose burdensome regulations. To have the highest quality and access to care in America, we must embrace these types of patient-centered solutions that will provide much needed flexibility.”