WASHINGTON, D.C.–You should know what you’re paying for, says Indiana’s junior senator. Sen. Mike Braun supports Pres. Trump’s executive order requiring hospitals to disclose what people actually pay for medical services. But, he says America needs to fix the health care system before the current system is rejected outright, in favor of Medicare for All, or a similar system.
“There’s a short window here to either fix it, keep the best of it, or go to a drastically different system that I think everybody will regret once we go to it,” said Braun in a phone call news conference Tuesday.
“Even the industry itself within primary health care, knows we can’t keep doing what we’ve been doing, where the cost goes up each year, and there’s no solution to it,” he said. Braun said he blames the industry itself, which he said has allowed big pharma, big insurance and big corporations to take control.
“Hospitals, increasingly large corporations, that have hidden behind the opaqueness of a complete lack of transparency, do not embrace competition, and deliver a product that has become completely unbearable.”
Braun praised Trump, but said companies, not just government, need to be involved in health care, encouraging their employees to head off big medical bills by encouraging wellness.
“President Trump is taking decisive action to bring transparency to negotiated hospital rates, which will reduce surprise medical bills and lower the cost of the healthcare,” said Braun. “This executive order compliments solutions I’ve offered to ensure patients know what they’re paying for and hold the healthcare industry accountable, which is a win for all Americans.”
His warning about the need to fix the health care system quickly, he said, is because he doesn’t believe Congress can “legislate the system into functionality before the other side’s point of view might weigh in and take over the day”.
“I tell ’em, are you that thick headed? You know what the other side wants to do, Medicare for All. Your business partner will be Bernie Sanders in a one payer government system. That does wake ’em (the health care industry) up,” said Braun.