Push for National Health Care Freedom

Today, I joined my colleagues, Senator Van De Putte, and Representatives Naishtat, Burnam, and Hodge to push for federal legislation that will provide affordable, quality health care for Texans and Americans.

While we are disappointed that the Governor didn't consider insuring Texas children a priority, the fight for affordable, quality health care for Texans and Americans is far from over. Individuals, businesses, and the market must come together to fill the gap that has left 50 million Americans without healthcare.

If any of these components alone could have solved the problem of the uninsured and underinsured this gap wouldn't exist. I'm surprised at the naïveté of individuals like Senator Cornyn who believe that our nation's health problems can be solved by health clinics.

In June, Rep. Naishtat, and Rep. Chavez traveled with Health Care For America Now (HCAN) to Washington, D.C. to request that members of Congress pass health care reform. I, along with 23 other Texas legislators signed a letter with the Progressive States Network (PSN) and presented it to the White House and Congress, also calling for health care reform.

Today, as state legislators, we joined together to reiterate our support.

"Now that the special session is over, it is a pivotal time to come together and call on our nation's leaders to enact health care reform that includes strong affordability protections and shared responsibility for health care costs," said Rep. Naishtat.

"Americans are faced with astronomical health care costs and are turned away from care that is essential to their health," said Rep. Burnam. "The time to act is now. Texans must have access to affordable quality health care."

"Medical catastrophes are the number one cause of bankruptcies," said Sen. Van de Putte. "A federal health plan will ease the burden on our local governments and require patient responsibility."

I am honored that our nation's leaders have asked us to be part of the solution and help craft a system that will lower costs for businesses while assuring that individuals have quality, affordable health care.

I will keep you updated on this pressing matter.