Former Senator John Breaux Unveils Recommendations for Bipartisan Health Care Reform

Breaux’s Ceasefire on Health Care Campaign Generates a Call to Action for Nation’s Policymakers

Washington, D.C., April 19, 2006—Speaking before the World Health Care Congress, former Louisiana Senator John Breaux today announced that his Ceasefire on Health Care campaign has developed several recommendations to achieve meaningful, bipartisan health care reform. Last year, Senator Breaux developed the Ceasefire on Health Care with American University’s Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies as a means to stimulate dialogue between leading Republican and Democrat policymakers, as well as advocates, on issues including the rising number of uninsured Americans, prevention and wellness, health information technology and reauthorization of State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

The American people have made it clear that they want Congress to reach a compromise agreement on the issue of the uninsured. It’s time for Republicans and Democrats to stop blaming each other for what Congress has not accomplished, and instead share credit for enacting measures that will improve access to and quality of health care in this country," said Breaux. After hearing from the nation’s leading heath care policymakers, I can report that there are indeed practical solutions that have bipartisan support."

Some of the ideas that have emanated from the Ceasefire campaign include:

  • Congress must begin a dialogue on developing a solution to comprehensively address the uninsured problem through health care reform. The solution is not a government-run system or a fend-for-yourself marketplace but a middle path that combines both.
  • Congress must reauthorize SCHIP through an aggressive but focused expansion that can significantly improve access to health care for children, while acknowledging budgetary constraints and political realities.
  • Congress must provide incentives to utilize prevention and wellness services, such as tax incentives, including tax credits and premium rebates, as a means to lower the health care costs related to treating chronic diseases.
  • The adoption of nationwide interoperable health IT system and widespread use of electronic prescribing technology to reduce medical errors and lower health care costs.

During his tenure in the U.S. Senate, Breaux understood the importance of reaching across the aisle and seeking accord," said Professor James A. Thurber, director of American University’s Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies. We are pleased to sponsor the Ceasefire on Health Care initiative and support bipartisan health care reform."

Previous Ceasefire bipartisan forums have featured former HHS Secretaries Donna Shalala and Tommy Thompson; Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich; Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR); Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Joe Schwarz (R-MI); Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA) and Congressman David Scott (D-GA 13th); Republican pollster Bill McInturff and Democratic pollster Geoff Garin; and Brookings Institution scholar, Henry J. Aaron, Ph. D., and Heritage Foundation scholar Stuart M. Butler, Ph. D.

A comprehensive paper outlining Senator Breaux’s recommendations can be found in this document (PDF).

The series is made possible by a grant from Pfizer Inc.

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* The “Ceasefire on Health Care” campaign is sponsored by American University's Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies and made possible by Pfizer Inc.