Hill Country Chronicle

On Monday, Representative Chip Roy from Texas' 21st district expressed his views on the current state of the American healthcare system in an op-ed published by The Hill. In his piece, Roy outlined a conservative approach to achieving healthcare freedom as the nation moves into 2025.

Roy criticized the rising costs of healthcare in America, stating, "American healthcare is getting more expensive but Americans aren’t getting healthier… Spending more money on government programs is not the solution. What we need is a fundamental paradigm shift toward healthcare freedom."

He emphasized the need to address what he described as "crony capitalism" within the system, calling for significant changes to various government agencies and large corporations involved in healthcare. He stated, "We must end the crony capitalism ruining our healthcare system. We must be brave enough to overhaul the government bureaucrats at NIH, CDC, and the USDA – and to take on Big Insurance, Big Hospital, Big Pharma, Big Corporations, and Big Ag."

Roy also highlighted what he sees as systemic issues that discourage health-focused initiatives: "Government-manufactured unhealthiness seems to be by design. Pharma companies, insurance companies, pharmacy benefit managers, and hospitals rarely make money off gym memberships and higher fruit and vegetable sales."

In advocating for change, Roy called for empowering individuals over corporations: “Instead of allowing big corporations to dominate healthcare policy, we must empower Americans and reward them for making smarter healthcare decisions..."

He proposed two steps towards achieving this vision: breaking away from cronyism that benefits financially from unhealthy practices and freeing the system through mechanisms like Direct Primary Care (DPC) and Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). He urged a departure from reliance on third-party entities that complicate patient-provider relationships.

Finally, Roy concluded with a call to action: “Get the government bureaucrat and corporate America out of the way of you and your farmer and you and your providers so that we can make America healthy again.”