Price: Obamacare Means 159 New Gov't Agencies

Saturday, 20 Mar 2010 12:06 PM

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The new government agencies that will be created as the result of Obamacare will worsen the quality of American medical care by restricting physicians and hospitals to use their best judgment, according to Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., a physician and chairman of the Republican Study Committee.

In fact, he says, the bill would create 159 new governemnt agencies to regulate insurance and medical care for Americans.

Writing for AOL News, Price says in an op-ed that the healthcare overhaul being contemplated by House Democrats will sacrifice “the quality of health care that has made this nation's practice of medicine the envy of the world.”

“Quality remains one of the six principles of patient-centered health care that Republicans have advocated,” Price writes. “Yet, all Americans find in the Democrats' government-centered vision are various boards of bureaucrats -- not practicing physicians -- determining what is considered quality care.”

The plan will take away the right of individuals to make the best decisions about their healthcare in consultation with their physician.

“An individual patient is far better served when health care decisions are informed by the advice of their doctor, not the dictates of Washington,” Price writes. “So when one reads the details of the legislation pending before Congress and finds the creation of 159 new government offices and programs, there is little else to feel but fear and concern for what will happen to the level of quality care in this country.”

The GOP has pushed a series of common-sense measures, Price says, that include tort reform and efforts to reduce waste and mismanagement in government programs like Medicare.

“Republicans are championing reform with no new bureaucratic boards making medical decisions, no $500 billion cuts to Medicare, no new mandates, and no one standing between you and your doctor,” Price writes. “We can fix what ails our current system without destroying it if we abide by the principle that quality in health care must not be sacrificed.”