The health care delivery system in Ohio is broken. With skyrocketing costs well above inflation, too many Ohio families and businesses are struggling to pay for health care, and over a million Ohioans have no insurance coverage at all. When uninsured Ohioans do access the system, it is often through the emergency room, bypassing the primary care they need and shifting the substantial costs to others.

Unfortunately, the health care law rammed through Congress in 2010 does not address the basic cost and access challenges Ohio faces. In fact, the law leads to higher health care costs, large tax increases, and many Ohioans losing the coverage of their choice. It also limits choices on doctors and medical treatment options.

That`s why I believe we ought to repeal and replace it with proposals that actually reduce costs and increase competition. Such proposals include eliminating the barriers to allow small businesses, associations, and other organizations to band together and offer health insurance at lower costs, increasing competition by allowing companies to sell health insurance across the state lines, and reducing the mounting cost of defensive medicine by enacting sensible legal reforms and better health information to stop the frivolous lawsuits.