Washington, Nov 5 - GOP Doctors Caucus Co-Chair Congressman Phil Gingrey (R-GA) announced that he is submitting six amendments to Speaker Pelosi’s health care legislation to the House Rules Committee. The Rules Committee is the last option before the House floor for the Democrats to allow Republican input on the legislation.

“Throughout the health care debate, Democrats have continued to shut legitimate Republican ideas out of the discussion. As a physician with over 30 years experience practicing medicine, I urge the Rules Committee to at least let my amendments come to the floor for a vote. Each amendment is focused on saving money, improving the quality of care, and holding Democrats accountable for their health care votes,” said Congressman Phil Gingrey.

Congressman Gingrey’s amendments would have made the following additions to the bill:

1. Mandate that every Member of Congress be enrolled in the Democrats’ public option
2. Strike all Medicare cuts from the legislation, allowing seniors to keep their health benefits
3. Include his legislation, H.R. 1086, the HEALTH ACT, which is comprehensive medical liability reform that the Congressional Budget Office estimates will save at least $54 billion
4. Strike any instance in the bill that would mandate how doctors practice medicine – which would allow doctors to continue to make health care decisions for their patients.
5. Allow every American to opt-out of the individual mandate for health insurance included in the bill, thereby protecting the civil liberties that every American enjoys today.
6. Prevent the new “Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research” from dictating to physicians what treatments they can or can’t offer – originally voted on and included in the Democrats bill back in July in the Energy and Commerce Committee, but was subsequently removed from the bill behind closed doors.