DeMint unveils plan for health care choices

Americans would have the ability to buy their own health plans and choose their own doctors under a health care agenda outlined Monday by Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jim DeMint.

The plan would go a long way toward stemming the tide in the direction of socialized medicine, which DeMint said “is alive and well” in this country. The key is empowerment, he said.

“We must put doctors, nurses and patients back in charge of American medicine and loosen the grip of government bureaucrats, HMOs and trial lawyers,” DeMint said.

“We have a health care crisis in America. Health care costs and insurance premiums are skyrocketing, businesses are dropping coverage, doctors are being forced out of practice, and people cannot afford and access the care they need.”

The three-term U.S. representative from Greenville is one of six Republicans seeking the GOP nomination for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Democrat Fritz Hollings.

The others are former Gov. David Beasley of Society Hill, former Attorney General Charlie Condon of Sullivan’s Island, Charleston real estate developer Thomas Ravenel, Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride, and Bluffton businesswoman Orly Benny Davis.

Democrats seeking the office are state Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum of Lexington and Marcus Belk of Camden.

DeMint outlined several steps Congress could take to fix the health care system. He would:

• Expand and enhance personal health accounts that would allow consumers access to higher quality care at more affordable prices

• Eliminate what he called frivolous medical lawsuits that damage the doctor-patient relationship and keep doctors from doing their work

• Establish refundable health care tax credits to help low-income Americans access basic private insurance coverage

• Change Medicare so retirees can choose between competing private health plans using cash contributions.

Government interference is “driving doctors out of business and patients out of their minds,” DeMint said. “A one-size-fits-all program where the government sets prices, dictates coverage, and rations care will only cause our health care system to deteriorate.

“If taxpayers think health care is expensive today, wait until it’s free.”

Before he was elected to Congress, DeMint owned a market research company with clients in the health care industry. While in Congress, he has offered legislation to establish tax-free health savings accounts, which was adopted and signed by President Bush last year.

“We must work toward a system in which all Americans can purchase their own health plans, choose their own doctor and receive the help they need,” DeMint said.

Reach Bandy at (803) 771-8648 or lbandy@thestate.com