Affordable Health Care Agenda

As the lead article on our website indicates, the Commonwealth Foundation has joined with over two dozen organizations to form the Health Care Freedom Coalition.

Most Democratic presidential candidates, one Republican presidential candidate, many business trade associations, and unions have endorsed "universal health insurance" as the solution to our nation’s health care problems.

With 46 million Americans who don’t have health insurance, these politicians and special interest groups have concluded that covering everyone will magically make health care affordable.

"Universal health insurance" is a myth. The only way to make health care "affordable" under a "universal health insurance" scheme is through price controls and limiting access. Any proposal claiming to provide "universal coverage" is nothing more than a system that must rely on private and/or public entities to administer government-run health care.

We, the Health Care Freedom Coalition, believe the solution to the nation’s health care problems is to make health care affordable for all Americans through a competitive, open, and transparent health care system where America’s families choose their own doctor and health care plans.

We believe any health care reform proposal must follow these principles:

• Free Choice of Doctors, Hospitals, and Health Plans
• HSAs Option for all Americans
• Tax Fairness and Simplification
• Affordable Health Insurance for Small Business
• Buying Health Insurance Across State Lines
• Health Care Price Disclosure
• High Risk Pools for People Who Are Sick
• Convert DSH Payments into Health Insurance Block Grants
• Allow nonprofit, faith-based alternatives for health insurance
• More competition between facilities

Health care reforms must not impose or create new controls on the public:
• No Mandates
• No Government Price Controls
• No Basic Benefit Packages or Actuarial Equivalent
• No Health Care GSEs
• No new government programs or expansion of existing ones

The detailed agenda and list of cosponsoring organizations is available here.


Other organizations are welcomed to sign-on to the statement, and additional names will be added over the coming months. If your organization would like to endorse the statement of principls, please contact either: Brian McManus - brianfmcmanus@yahoo.com or Greg Scandlen - greg@chcchoices.org