The Bush proposal presented.(Health Care 2004: You Decide)

Americans can take pride that we have the best health care in the world--committed doctors and nurses, state-of-the-art medical devices, and life-saving prescription drugs. Despite our successes, there are still too many gaps in quality, too many uninsured, too many errors, too many lawsuits, and too much red tape.

Under the leadership of President George W. Bush, we have made the most significant improvements to Medicare in two generations, guaranteeing prescription drug coverage to more than 40 million seniors and individuals with disabilities. We have given all Americans the opportunity to have greater control over their own health care choices and hard-earned dollars with tax-free Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). We have strengthened America's safety net by expanding neighborhood community health centers to serve an additional 3 million poor and underserved uninsured patients. We have made an historic $15 billion commitment to fighting global HIV/AIDS. And we have completed the doubling of the research budget of the National Institutes of Health.

Still, there is more to be done. President Bush has a bold vision to build on these accomplishments with 4 more years, including: helping small businesses band together through association health plans to purchase more affordable health coverage; providing refundable tax credits to low-income Americans to help them purchase affordable health coverage; building on HSAs to give all Americans more ownership and control over their health care; continuing to expand the capacity of community health centers in the most needy areas of our nation to treat millions more underserved patients; providing all Americans access to individually owned, privacy-protected electronic health records; and limiting frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits which drive up health care costs, drive good doctors out of practice, and hurt patients.

These proposals will go a long way toward transforming our disparate health care sectors into a system that is more patient-centered, consumer-driven, and provider-friendly. President Bush clearly believes that the doctor-patient relationship must always be the touchstone of our health care system. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the Democratic presidential nominee. Many of Sen. John Kerry's positions are at odds with the priorities of the medical community and the patients they serve. They are also an expensive prescription for bigger government and higher taxes.

Perhaps the best example is Sen. Kerry's strong and repeated opposition to medical liability reform. Skyrocketing medical liability costs and frivolous lawsuits infect our health care system. They force doctors to practice defensive medicine, which drives up the cost of ...