Gingrich Proposes Health Care Reform Strategies
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), founder of the Center for Health Transformation, on Monday in Dearborn, Mich., proposed a number of reforms to the U.S. health care system, the Detroit Free Press reports.
In a speech at the annual Health Trends Conference sponsored by the Greater Detroit Area Health Council, Gingrich said that U.S. residents should take more responsibility for their health care and that those whose annual incomes exceed a certain level should have to purchase health insurance or post a bond. In addition, he said businesses and health care providers should collaborate to develop advances in the health care system and proposed the appointment of a federal undersecretary of commerce for health to encourage the treatment of foreign patients in the U.S.
Gingrich also said that providers and the federal government should implement technologies to allow physicians and patients to access medical records and health care cost and quality information (Merx, Detroit Free Press, 4/4).