Citizen's Council Responds To Tom Daschle's Appointment As Secretary Of HHS

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 21 Nov 2008 - 1:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions

In response to President-elect Barack Obama's choice of Tom Daschle for Secretary of HHS, Twila Brase, president of Citizens' Council on Health Care, releases the following statement:

"Mr. Obama's choice for Secretary of HHS signals a plan to eliminate free-markets and resurrect national health care.

"In his March 3, 2008 Huffington Post article, "Progressive Solutions to American's Health-Care Crisis," Tom Daschle publicly calls for the federal government to control all facets of health insurance and direct the practice of medicine.

"Mr. Daschle, in his book "Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis" says he wants government officials to have online access to all patient records for ongoing surveillance, government research, and monitoring of physician treatment decisions.

"Daschle proposes a national health board modeled after the Federal Reserve Board for Banking. This Federal Health Board would oversee the entire health care system. Mr. Daschle calls it "Fed Health".

"If Mr. Daschle succeeds, Americans can expect that all private medical decisions-and their doctors-could soon be under federal control. This is not the kind of change American patients want in health care."

Citizens' Council on Health Care supports freedom for patients and doctors, medical innovation, and the right to a confidential patient-doctor relationship.

Citizens' Council on Health Care