House Republicans might lose a chance to have a meaningful impact on health reform if they don’t issue their own legislation soon, especially since it appears that Democrats are moving quickly, Rep. Michael C. Burgess (R-Tex.) said in an interview on May 7.

Rep. Burgess, a former ob.gyn who serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said he had been pushing his colleagues to come together sooner rather than later, given that House Democrats have stated that they aim to have a health reform bill ready for a vote by the end of July. On May 4, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) said staff from his committee, the Ways and Means Committee, and the Education and Labor Committee, were crafting a “framework” that would be unveiled publicly in early June.

No Republicans are part of that effort at the moment.

Rep. Burgess said he had met with Rep. Waxman in January, when he assumed the Energy and Commerce chairmanship. “I told him, ‘I didn’t give up a 25-year career in medicine to sit on the sidelines when this legislation goes through,’ ” said the congressman, adding that he offered himself up as a resource. But, said Rep. Burgess, “It hasn’t quite been the utilization of the resource that I would have liked.”

Although President Obama and congressional Democrats have said they view health reform as an opportunity for bipartisanship, Rep. Burgess said he’s not feeling much of a joint spirit. When asked whether it was a sticking point in negotiations that the administration insists on securing a government-funded public plan option, Rep. Burgess said, “that would imply the Democrats are anxious to have us work together on this, and right now, I haven’t seen that happen.”

If given the opportunity for input, the Texan said he would like to first, protect the physician-patient relationship, which means taking the government out of the decision-making process and giving people a wide range of choices. He also would like to find a way for individuals to receive the same tax breaks when they buy insurance as enjoyed by those who have employer-sponsored policies, he said.

And, “there’s no question that insurance reform has to be a big part of whatever package gets put together,” said Rep. Burgess, noting that he believes denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions should end.

The congressman also has advocated for liability reform, contained in his recently reintroduced proposal to cap non-economic damages (H.R. 1468), and for health pricing transparency (covered in the just-introduced H.R. 2249). However, he said that he did not expect liability reform to be addressed in any health reform bill.