***NEWS RELEASE*** For Immediate Release September 26, 2016 MEDIA CONTACT: Hamilton Strategies, 610.584.1096, ext. 104, or
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What Should We Ask Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton About the State of Health Care in America? With Debate Airing Tonight, Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom Says Next President Must Commit to Economic Principles and Ethical Standards in Health Care ST. PAUL, Minn.—Viewers around the nation will watch tonight’s first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton with rapt attention. Though Americans may tune in for different reasons—the economy, national security, religious liberties—patient advocates at one health freedom organization will be watching with a singular subject in mind. Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom (CCHF, www.cchfreedom.org) says health care should be one of the six main topics discussed, as Americans have faced an uphill battle regarding care, coverage, cost and confidentiality for the past several years—especially since the signing of the Affordable Care Act. “Health care premiums are depleting American pocketbooks and outsiders are limiting patient access to the care they need,” said Twila Brase, president and co-founder of CCHF. “Americans from all walks of life—insured and uninsured, and government-subsidized—should pay close attention to what the candidates have to say about the state of health care in America, and ask themselves which candidate will work to restore affordability, excellence and access and bring a patient-centered focus back to health care. We want a candidate who recognizes the need for ethical standards and who understands how to restore affordability to care and coverage.” Brase added that debate-watchers should take note of several key questions that deserve answers from Trump and Clinton: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Will you repeal Obamacare? Will you stop the growth of managed care and its costly controls on care? Will you repeal the intrusive, unaffordable electronic health record (EHR) mandate? Will you return freedom of choice by ending auto-enrollment into Medicare Advantage? Will you allow every health care practitioner direct contract with patients? Will you allow seniors to pay cash for the care that Medicare denies?
CCHF recently launched The Wedge of Health Freedom (www.JointheWedge.com), where doctors who have said ‘no’ to costly and restrictive insurance contracts and government regulations are better able to keep their patients’ medical information private, namely by not participating in costly EHR systems or by using EHRs that are not accessible online. The first listing of online Wedge practices, which covers nearly 40 states, includes a map of doctors and other medical professionals that patients around the country can use to find these affordable practices. Inside The Wedge, patient medical privacy is respected, patient choice is protected, and a personal patient-doctor relationship is fostered. Around the nation, tucked in small towns and across big cities, physicians and other clinicians are already operating practices under these health freedom-embracing principles, but are largely invisible to the public. Patients either don’t know they exist or don’t know how to find them. The Wedge aims to promote this free-trade zone for health care so that patients and doctors are no longer bound by the shackles of government health care or limited by managed care rationing directives. The first presidential debate airs tonight from 9 to 10:30 p.m. ET live from Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. The moderator will be “NBC Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt, and the debate will air on ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, C-SPAN and cable news channels. The evening will be divided into six segments of approximately 15 minutes each on topics to be selected by the moderator. CCHF is a national patient-centered health freedom organization existing to protect health care choices, individualized patient care, and medical and genetic privacy rights. For more information about CCHF, visit its web site at www.cchfreedom.org, its Facebook page or its Twitter feed @CCHFreedom. For more about The Wedge of Health Freedom, visit www.JointheWedge.com, The Wedge Facebook page or follow The Wedge on Twitter @wedgeoffreedom.
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CCHF president and co-founder Twila Brase, R.N., has been called one of the “100 Most Powerful People in Health Care” and one of “Minnesota’s 100 Most Influential Health Care Leaders.” A public health nurse, Brase has been interviewed by CNN, Fox News, Minnesota Public Radio, NBC Nightly News, NBC’s Today Show, NPR, New York Public Radio, the Associated Press, Modern Healthcare, TIME, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The Washington Times, among others. She is at the forefront of informing the public of crucial health issues, such as intrusive wellness and prevention initiatives in Obamacare, patient privacy, informed consent, the dangers of “evidence-based medicine” and the implications of state and federal health care reform
