Ron Paul on Health Care Republican Representative (TX-14); previously Libertarian for President

Sub-sections under Health Care:
• Voting+Sponsorships
• Other issues under Health Care

Let nutraceutical ads include testimonials as free speech

In 2011, armed federal agents raided Maxam Nutraceutics, a company that produces and sells nutritional supplements for people with autism spectrum disorder and Alzheimer's disease. The raid was based on Maxam's alleged failure to comply with a warning letter from the FDA ordering Maxam to remove several "improper labels" from Maxam products. The labels in question were simply accounts from Maxam customers describing their experiences with Maxam products.

Restricting communication of individuals' accounts of their experiences with foods and dietary supplements is a blatant violation of the First Amendment.

Newt Gingrich's healthcare stances compared to Paul's

Gingrich vs. Paul on Domestic Issues

• Mandatory Sentencing
• Death Penalty
• Gun Rights
• Drugs in Society
• Marijuana Legalization
• Nuclear Waste
• Animal Rights
• Environment vs. Economy
• WikiLeaks
• Outer Space Policy
• Citizen Loyalty
• Health mandate
• Medicare
• ObamaCare

Government should not protect you from yourself

PAUL: No, essentially not, but they have to be a referee. If people are doing things that hurt other people, yes. But if you embark on instituting a society where government protects you from yourself, you're in big trouble, and that's what they're doing.

Q: What about mandates for adults?

PAUL: You talk about ObamaCare using force, but that's all government is, is force. I mean, do you have a choice about paying Medicare taxes? So there's not a whole of different: you're forced to buy insurance. That's one step further. But you have to stop with force. Once government uses force to mold behavior or mold the economy, they've overstepped the bounds and they've violated the whole concept of our revolution and our Constitution.

No mandatory mental health screening in schools

• Prohibits federal funds from being used to implement any universal or mandatory mental health or socioemotional screening program.
• Prohibits federal education funds to any local educational agency that uses the refusal to provide consent to mental health screening as the basis of a charge of child abuse or neglect.
• Defines a screening program as any mental health screening in which an individual is automatically screened without regard to whether there was a prior indication of a need

Markets instead of lobbyists writing drug laws

A: Theoretically, it could be privatized, but who ends up doing the regulations on the drugs? They do as much harm as good. They don't take good care of us. Who gets--who gets to write the regulations? The bureaucrats write the regulations, but who writes the laws? The lobbyists have control, so lobbyists from the drug industry has control of writing the regulations, so you turn it over to the bureaucracy. But you would have private institutions that could become credible. And, I mean, do we need the federal government to tell us whether we buy a safe car? I say the consumers of America are smart enough to decide what kind of car they can buy and whether it's safe or not, and they don't need the federal government hounding them and putting so much regulations on that our car industry has gone overseas.

Vaccinating 12-year-olds against HPV is bad medicine

PAUL: Just take the HPV [human papiloma virus]. Forcing 12-year-old girls to take an inoculatio to prevent this sexually transmitted disease, this is not good medicine, I do not believe. I think it's social misfit. It's not good social policy. And therefore, I think this is very bad to do this. But one of the worst parts about that was the way it was done. The governorship in Texas traditionally is supposed to be a weak governorship. I didn't even know they could pass laws by writing an executive order. He did it with an executive order, passed it. The state was furious, and the legislature, overwhelmingly, 90%, repealed this. But I think it's the way it was passed, which was so bad. I think it's a bad piece of legislation. But I don't like the idea of executive orders. I, as president, will not use the executive order to write laws.

States CAN mandate insurance, but it's a bad idea

ROMNEY: Are you familiar with the Massachusetts constitution? I am. It allows states [to mandate insurance].

Q: [to Paul]: Does a state have a constitutional right to make someone buy insurance just because they're a resident?

PAUL: No, the federal government can't go in and prohibit the states from doing bad things. And I would consider that a very bad thing, but you don't send in a federal police force because they're doing it. So they do have that leeway under our Constitution. But we have drifted so far from any of our care being delivered by the marketplace. And once you get the government involved--both parties have done it --they've developed a medical care delivery system based on corporatism. The corporations are doing quite well, whether it's Obama or under the Republicans. The drug companies do well. The insurance companies do well. The patient and the doctors suffer.

Private contract instead of tort reform

• A bill prohibiting lawsuits against restaurants, food manufacturers and distributors based on claims that the food contributed to the plaintiff's obesity
• A bill barring lawsuits against manufacturers and distributors of firearms making them liable for gun violence
• Bills limiting the liability of users of defibrillators in emergencies, and nonprofit volunteer pilots

Let people opt out of Medicare

PAUL: Well, under these conditions, it's not solvent and won't be solvent. If you're an average couple, you would have put $140,000 into it. And in your lifetime, you will take out more than three times that much. So a little bit of arithmetic tells you it's not solvent, so we're up against the wall on that, so it can't be made solvent. It has to change. We have to have more competition in medicine. And I would think that if we don't want to cut any of the medical benefits for children or the elderly, because we have drawn so many in and got them so dependent on the government, if you want to work a transition, you have to cut a lot of money. Some revamping has to occur. What we need is competition. We need to get a chance for the people to opt out of the system. Just--you talk about opting out of Obamacare? Why can't we opt out of the whole system and take care of ourselves?

Legalizing prostitution is about protecting liberty

A: They will, if they see that my defense of liberty is the defense of their right to practice religion and say their prayers where they want. It's an issue of protecting liberty across the board. We don't have the First Amendment so we can talk about the weather. We have the First Amendment so we can say very controversial things. If you have the inconsistency, then you're really not defending liberty. You can't hurt other people, but yes, you have the right to do things that are very controversial. If not, then you'll have a government that tells us what we can eat and drink and whatever.

ObamaCare is only as socialized as Bush's & Nixon's reforms

Insurers promote ObamaCare's giant expansion of government

Individual mandate is back door to national health insurance

Yet, as I write this, it appears unlikely that the final bill will create a system resembling the socialized medicine model of Canada or Great Britain. Instead, it appears likely that any health care "reform" plan that actually passes Congress will reject both the free market and socialism in favor of corporatism.

Replace Medicaid with volunteer pro-bono medical care

Private medical savings accounts, not government meddling

Insurance companies & gov't make healthcare unaffordable

A: Well, we've had managed care, now, for about 35 years. It's not working, and nobody's happy with it. The doctors aren't happy. The patients aren't happy. Nobody seems to be happy--except the corporations, the drug companies and the HMOs.

Transfer funds from debt & empire-building to healthcare

Socialized medicine won't work; nor managed care

Managed care is expensive and hasn't worked

A: We've had managed care in this country since the early 1970s, and it hasn't worked well. It's very, very expensive, and it's the fault that we changed our ERISA law and our tax laws that created this corporatism that runs medicine. Wall Street rakes off the profits. The patients are unhappy. The doctors are unhappy. And it's a monopoly now. Who lobbies us in Washington? The drug companies and the HMOs. They come. And now what is the cry for? Socialized medicine. That's not the answer. We need to get the government out of the way. Inflation hits the middle class and the poor the most. Those are the people who are losing it. We don't have enough competition. There's a doctor monopoly out there. We need alternative health care freely available to the people. They ought to be able to make their own choices and not controlled by the FDA preventing them to use some of the medications.

Not government's role to protect people like Terri Schiavo

• HUCKABEE:Yes.
• TANCREDO:Yes.
• COX:Yes.
• BROWNBACK: Yes.
• PAUL: No.
• HUNTER: Yes.
• KEYES:Yes.

Insurance reward for avoiding tobacco, alcohol, obesity

• HUCKABEE: Yes.
• TANCREDO: Yes.
• COX: Yes.
• BROWNBACK: Yes.
• PAUL: Yes.
• HUNTER: Yes.
• KEYES: Yes.

Oppose mandated health insurance and universal coverage

• HUCKABEE: Yes.
• TANCREDO: Yes.
• COX: Yes.
• BROWNBACK: Yes.
• PAUL: Yes.
• HUNTER: Yes.
• KEYES: Yes.

Abolish federal Medicare entitlement; leave it to states.

As adopted by the General Membership of the Republican Liberty Caucus at its Biannual Meeting held December 8, 2000.
• WHEREAS libertarian Republicans believe in limited government, individual freedom and personal responsibility;
• WHEREAS we believe that government has no money nor power not derived from the consent of the people;
• WHEREAS we believe that people have the right to keep the fruits of their labor; and
• WHEREAS we believe in upholding the US Constitution as the supreme law of the land;

BE IT RESOLVED that the Republican Liberty Caucus endorses the following [among its] principles:
1. Free market health care alternatives, such as medical savings accounts, should be available to everyone, including senior citizens.
2. The federal entitlement to Medicare should be abolished, leaving health care decision making regarding the elderly at the state, local, or personal level.

Limit anti-trust lawsuits on health plans and insurers.

OFFICIAL CONGRESSIONAL SUMMARY:

• Delineates the relationship between the antitrust laws and negotiations between groups of health care professionals and health plans and health care insurance issuers.
• Applies the `rule of reason` standard to negotiations between a health plan and two or more physicians.
• Awards attorneys` fees to a substantially prevailing plaintiff only when the defendant`s conduct was unreasonable or in bad faith.
• Prohibits tying arrangements (linking the participation in one product line to participation in another) between a health plan and health care professional.
• Excludes from this Act any negotiations or agreements including Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP, or other federal programs.

EXCERPTS FROM CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS:

Congress finds the following:
1. A large number of Americans receive their health care coverage from managed health care plans.
2. The market power of insurance companies has increased tremendously since the early 1990`s, due to mergers and acquisitions.
3. Health plans improperly manipulate the practice of medicine through such mechanisms as inappropriately making medical necessity determinations, and knowingly denying and delaying payment.
4. The intent of the antitrust laws is to encourage competition and protect the consumer, and the current per se standard for enforcing the antitrust laws in the health care field frequently does not achieve these objectives.
5. An application of the `rule of reason` will tend to promote both competition and high-quality patient care.
6. In any action under the antitrust laws challenging a health plan, conduct shall not be deemed illegal per se, but shall be judged on the basis of its reasonableness, taking into account all relevant factors affecting competition and proposed contract terms.

LEGISLATIVE OUTCOME: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary; never called for a House vote.

Rated 56% by APHA, indicating a mixed record on public health issues.

The American Public Health Association (APHA) is the oldest and largest organization of public health professionals in the world, representing more than 50,000 members from over 50 occupations of public health. APHA is concerned with a broad set of issues affecting personal and environmental health, including federal and state funding for health programs, pollution control, programs and policies related to chronic and infectious diseases, a smoke-free society, and professional education in public health.

The following ratings are based on the votes the organization considered most important; the numbers reflect the percentage of time the representative voted the organization`s preferred position.

Prohibit mandatory mental health screen for students.

To prohibit the use of Federal funds for any universal or mandatory mental health screening program.

Introductory statement by Sponsor:

Rep. PAUL: This bill forbids Federal funds from being used for any universal or mandatory mental health screening of students without the express, written, voluntary, informed consent of their parents or legal guardian. This bill protects the fundamental right of parents to direct and control the upbringing and education of their children.

[A Congressional commission] recommends that universal or mandatory mental health screening first be implemented in public schools as a prelude to expanding it to the general public. However, neither the commission`s report nor any related mental health screening proposal requires parental consent before a child is subjected to mental health screening. Federally-funded universal or mandatory mental health screening in schools without parental consent could lead to labeling more children as `ADD` or `hyperactive` and thus force more children to take psychotropic drugs, such as Ritalin, against their parents` wishes.

Many children have suffered harmful side effects from using psychotropic drugs. Some of the possible side effects include mania, violence, dependence, and weight gain. Yet, parents are already being threatened with child abuse charges if they resist efforts to drug their children. Imagine how much easier it will be to drug children against their parents` wishes if a Federally-funded mental health screener makes the recommendation.

Remove restrictions on estriol (menopause medication).

A concurrent resolution expressing the sense of Congress that the Food and Drug Administration`s (FDA) new policy restricting women`s access to medications containing estriol does not serve the public interest.

• Whereas menopause is often a challenging transition for millions of women that requires specialized medications and medical treatments;
• Whereas physicians prescribe a variety of pharmaceutical treatment options to treat women experiencing the symptoms of menopause;
• Whereas individual women respond differently to different treatment options;
• Whereas women`s physicians determine on a case-by-case basis which treatment option is optimal for each woman;
• Whereas many physicians prescribe compounded estrogen and other bioidentical hormone treatments for patients for a variety of reasons;
• Whereas many physicians prescribe compounded estrogen treatments that contain estriol to treat menopausal and perimenopausal women;
• Whereas estriol is one of three estrogens produced by the human body;
• Whereas estriol has been prescribed and used for decades in the United States;
• Whereas the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that it will no longer permit compounding pharmacists to prepare medications containing estriol pursuant to a doctor`s prescription;
• Whereas insurers are now denying women reimbursement for compounded medications containing estriol as a result of the FDA`s announcement; and
• Whereas the FDA has acknowledged that it is unaware of any adverse events associated with use of compounded medications containing estriol:

Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That it is the sense of the Congress that--
1. physicians are in the best position to determine which medications are most appropriate for their patients;
2. the FDA should respect the physician-patient relationship; and
3. the FDA should reverse its policy that aims to eliminate patients` access to compounded medications containing estriol.

Repeal any federal health care takeover.

The Club for Growth`s `Repeal-It!` Pledge for incumbents states, `I hereby pledge to the people of my district/state to sponsor and support legislation to repeal any federal health care takeover passed in 2010, and replace it with real reforms that lower health care costs without growing government.`

Repeal the Job-Killing Health Care Law.

Repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, effective as of its enactment. Restores provisions of law amended by such Act.

Repeals the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education and Reconciliation Act of 2010, effective as of the Act`s enactment. Restores provisions of law amended by the Act`s health care provisions.

Expand medical savings accounts for employers & individuals.

To expand the availability of medical savings accounts. Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to medical savings accounts to:
1. repeal the limitation on the number of accounts;
2. make all employers (currently limited to small employers) eligible to offer accounts;
3. increase contribution deduction amounts;
4. permit employer and employee contributions;
5. reduce high deductible health plan deductibles; and
6. permit accounts to be offered under cafeteria plans.

Expedited licensing for biosimilar products.

Amends the Public Health Service Act to provide for the licensing of biosimilar and interchangeable biological products.
• Allows any person to file an abbreviated biological product application with the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Requires such applications to include information demonstrating a high degree of similarity or interchangeability between the biological product and the licensed biological product (reference product).
• Requires the Secretary to:
  1. approve an application and issue a license for a biosimilar product unless the Secretary finds and informs the applicant that the information in the application fails to demonstrate biosimilarity between the biological product and the reference product or the safety, purity, and potency of the biological product; and
  2. establish requirements for the efficient review, approval, suspension, and revocation of abbreviated biological product applications.
• Allows an applicant a determination as to the interchangeability of a product and its reference product based on whether a product can be expected to produce the same clinical result as the reference product in any given patient. Grants market exclusivity to any biological product that is determined to be interchangeable for a specified period.
• Sets forth provisions governing patent infringement claims involving comparable biological products and legal remedies to expedite the adjudication of patent infringement disputes.
• Extends the period for approval of biological products to allow for studies of the use of new biological products in the pediatric population.