Chairman Cassidy Asks for Meeting with President Trump to Discuss Plan to Lower Health Care Costs

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, delivered a speech on the U.S. Senate floor discussing how his Money and Value for Patients (MVP) agenda can make life more affordable. Wanting to create lasting change, Cassidy asked to meet with President Trump to work with him on lowering health care costs for American families.

"The idea that I have, I call it the MVP Plan, the Money and Value for Patients plan, and just like Mr. President Trump you argued in the debate over the enhanced premium tax credit renewal, let's give money to the individual not to the insurance company," said Dr. Cassidy. "Because if you give money to the insurance company, they take at least 20% of it for profit and overhead. If you give it to the patient, 100% goes to the care they know they need. It takes power from bureaucrats and middlemen, and you give it to the patient. I'm a physician, I learned long ago, you give power to the patient and the patient does better."

"This, Mr. President, is a way to give immediate relief to a family who is currently struggling with the cost of living," continued Dr. Cassidy. "Mr. President, I stand ready to meet with you or your administration. Mr. President let's do it together. If we don't do it together, it won't be done. If it's not the President and the Congress working together, we will not save the American people with $10,000 credit card debt on average going into medical bankruptcy."

Being the first physician to chair the committee, Cassidy has a unique perspective on making health care more affordable as he saw people struggle to afford the care they need while working in a hospital for the uninsured and poorly insured. Cassidy previously detailed his Money and Value for Patients (MVP) agenda in an op-ed and a floor speech.

President Trump recently signed Cassidy's PBM Reform Act into law, increasing price transparency and cracking down on middlemen that drive up prescription drug prices for patients. Cassidy also led the Health Care Freedom for Patients Act with U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) as an alternative to Democrats' plan to continue giving billions of dollars to giant insurance companies.

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