House Republicans Release Their “Commitment to America” Policy Agenda for Next Congress
Promising “transparency, choice and competition,” Republican members of the
U.S. House of Representatives recently released their policy agenda for next year. The
Republican “Commitment to America” policy agenda contains four overarching
goals: creating “an economy that's strong,” “a nation that's safe,”
“a future that's built on freedom” and “a government that's accountable.”
The Republican health care platform includes lowering health care costs, improving
access to telemedicine and promoting domestic manufacturing of medicines. Republicans
assert that price transparency increases competition, which in turn, lowers health
care costs. Therefore, during this Congress, much of their focus on transparency,
choice and competition centered around their efforts to strengthen and codify
regulations promulgated during the Trump administration, such as requiring hospitals to publicly release their prices.
Unlike past Republican policy agendas, there was no reference to reappealing the
Affordable Care Act, often referred to by Republicans as “Obamacare.” Overall,
the Republican policy agenda does not provide specific policy language or reference specific bills,
but it does provide overarching, generalized statements that House Republicans support.
