U.S. Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. 26th District of Texas

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Health Care

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As a doctor for over 25 years serving the people of North Texas, I know how important health care is to each individual. Now, serving as your U.S. Congressman, I am committed to reforming our health care system to make it more affordable and accessible. My seat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and its subcommittee on Health has allowed me to work toward those goals.

In 2009, at the start of the 111th Session of Congress, I founded the Congressional Health Care Caucus, which I chair. This orgainzation educates and provides Members of Congress and their staff on pertinent issues related to health care and health care reform. To learn more about the caucus, events I've hosted, and other information, please visit http://www.healthcaucus.org.

Health care reform has been and continues to be my number one priority as a Member of Congress. President Obama has echoed my concern, making health care reform one of his key focuses. He has stated that he will not sign off on a health care bill unless it accomplishes three goals. The first goal is to lower the cost of health care for the consumer. The second goal is to make sure that those Americans who are currently happy with their health care coverage can keep it. The third and final goal is to provide coverage for all those who are currently uninsured, whether because of pre-existing conditions or because they simply can’t afford it.

I wholeheartedly agree with all three of the President’s goals, but I have different ideas of how to best achieve these goals. I will continue to be a forceful and vocal advocate for health care legislation aimed at reducing health care costs, improving choices, reforming liability laws to put the needs of patients first, and ensuring there are enough doctors to care for America’s patients. I believe we can accomplish these goals by empowering patients and doctors, instead of turning more control over to the federal government, and I will continue to push for the right kind of reforms.

Related websites:

National Institutes of Health
House Energy and Commerce Committe
National Human Genome Research Institute
Health Decisions - this will help you locate HSAs in your state