U.S. Rep. Tom Graves had high praise for Hamilton Medical Center’s laboratory after touring the facility on Tuesday.
“You don’t realize everything that goes on behind the scenes at a hospital. All of us have been in the hospital or had friends or relatives who have been,” said Graves, a Republican from Ranger. “But you don’t realize all of the people who are working behind the scenes. They have a great team, and it’s really encouraging for me to see the hard work and professionalism here.”
Graves met afterwards with several local doctors to discuss health care issues. He said Washington is eagerly awaiting the U.S. Supreme Court decision on the health care reform law that passed two years ago, which is expected some time this month.
“They can say the whole law is unconstitutional and throw it out. Or they could throw out the individual mandate (that requires that nearly all Americans either have health insurance or face financial penalties) and other components. Or they could uphold the law,” Graves said. “I would say that regardless of what decision is reached, you will certainly see House Republicans and Gov. Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential nominee, put forward a plan to reform health care by empowering patients and doctors, a plan centered around patients and doctors as opposed to one centered around government.”
But Graves said even if Romney isn’t elected, Republicans will continue to work to repeal the health care law if it is upheld by the court, and to replace it with something less “intrusive.”
“It’s too expensive. It’s causing uncertainty throughout the marketplace, and it’s causing employers not to hire people because of those concerns,” he said. “We’ve got to remove that uncertainty.”
Graves said it’s too early to say what particular proposals the GOP might make on health care.
“Whatever proposals we make, it will be through a process that is transparent. It will not be hasty. It will not be rushed,” he said. “It will not be put together in a smoke-filled room.”
Graves said he did not know if the GOP would push a large reform bill or focus on a series of reforms.
“I personally think it’s better to keep things simple and focus on finding the right solution for the problem we are trying to address,” he said. “When you have a law that’s over 2,000 pages, I don’t think anyone can say they know exactly what’s in it.”
