Talking Health Care, Bill McCollum Plays Up Conservative Credentials

Trailing in the polls behind Rick Scott for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, Attorney General Bill McCollum continued Monday to unveil new proposals to gain public attention and win back conservative primary voters who are now leaning toward his rival.

Speaking in Naples Monday, McCollum tackled health care, calling for more transparency and using free-market principles to lower patient costs.

Floridas health-care system is facing greater challenges today than ever before, said McCollum. Record numbers of hard-working Floridians are unable to afford health insurance and cannot access quality care. Small businesses struggle to provide coverage for employees. Doctors and nurses are leaving the practice faster than we can replace them. Health care costs have risen too high, too quickly. The status quo is unacceptable and must be addressed with strong action.

McCollum argued greater consumer choice would lower expenses. The attorney general also stressed his conservative credentials by taking aim at new federal health-care laws backed by President Barack Obama. McCollum is leading a coalition of states that have sued the federal government on these laws, arguing they are unconstitutional.

Private-sector ideas do work, and evidence supports my position. Some politicians think they should be able to run the health-care system from their ivory tower in Washington -- but they are wrong, said McCollum. We must advance state-level reforms that value the free market, improve consumer choice and respect every individuals right to choose what is best for him or her self. To me, the doctor-patient relationship is sacred. The solutions to our problems do not lie in a bigger, detached federal government.