Brian Fitzpatrick. File photo
Credit: Tom Sofield/NewtownPANow.com
Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick’s office said he will be making a concentrated effort to understand Bucks County healthcare practitioners and residents concerns about healthcare reform.
On Tuesday, Fitzpatrick announced a series of sit down-type events throughout Bucks and Montgomery counties where he will meet with physicians and other healthcare professionals along with the public to see where they stand on healthcare reform, a press release said.
“The American people deserve elected officials who are willing to acknowledge the fact that increasing access to affordable and reliable healthcare is a goal that transcends political ideology,” Fitzpatrick said in the statement. “Only then can we proceed in fixing our healthcare system in a responsible, deliberate manner that ensures both the continuity of coverage and patient protection provisions,” he continued.
According to Fitzpatrick, worthwhile change can’t happen unless leaders stop and actually communicate with their constituents.
For many, including Marilyn Heine, a medical doctor practicing hematology oncology in Bucks County, it is important to keep the number of insured Americans on the rise.
“Before Congress takes any action that would potentially alter coverage, policymakers should provide the American people with a clear understanding of what would replace current policies,” Heine said. “Patients and other stakeholders should be able to readily compare current policy to new proposals so they can make informed decisions about whether it represents a step forward in the ongoing process of health system reform,” Heine continued.
As part of a stance to increase access to healthcare and medical treatment, Fitzpatrick has called for doubling women’s health funding at the National Institutes of Health from $4 billion to $8 billion, and increased services and accessibility at women’s health clinics, the release says.
