Dear President Trump and Republican Members of the House and Senate:

We represent fiscal conservatives and free market activists from across the country, and we are concerned about the direction the health care policy debate is moving.

There is no doubt that left-of-center politicians have as one of their central goals a “Medicare for All” style socialized healthcare scheme that will raise our taxes, limit our choices, and ration our care.

However, what is troubling is how often otherwise right-of-center policymakers are resorting to one of the key pillars of the Medicare for All playbook–government imposed price controls. Whether it is called price fixing, rate setting, subsidy capping, or inflation capping, government price controls have wormed their way into the healthcare reform plans of too many of our friends in Washington.

Government price controls have always been opposed by fiscal conservatives, and for good reason. They lead directly to scarcity of a product, since the government is forcing the provider to sell below the market price. This scarcity then means the government gets to ration who gets the product. Before long, the government is telling one person they get to have the price controlled good or service that day, and tells another person they cannot.

This was a bad idea a half century ago with gasoline line rationing, and it’s a bad idea today in health care. Something can only be affordable if it’s available to buy in the first place.

Sincerely,

Charles Sauer
President
Market Institute

Ryan Ellis
President
Center for a Free Economy

Dean Clancy
Senior Policy Fellow
Americans for Prosperity

Iain Murray
Vice President for Strategy
Competitive Enterprise Institute

Grover Norquist
President
Americans for Tax Reform

Norm Singleton
Vice President
Campaign for Liberty

Frank Lasée
President
The Heartland Institute

Josh Umbehr
Board Member
DPC Action

Jason Pye
Vice President Legislative Affairs
FreedomWorks

James L. Martin
Chairman/Founder
60 Plus Association

Saulius “Saul” Anuzis
President
60 Plus Association

Pete Sepp
President
National Taxpayers Union

Thomas Schatz
President
Council for Citizens Against Government Waste

David Williams
President
Taxpayers Protection Alliance

Mario Lopez
President
Hispanic Leadership Fund

Dr. Keith Smith
Founder
Free Market Medical Association

Dr. Kris Held
Chairman
Association of American Physicians and Surgeons

George Landrith
President
Frontiers of Freedom

James Edwards
Executive Director
Conservatives for Property Rights

Colin A. Hanna
President
Let Freedom Ring, Inc.

Andrew Langer
President
Institute for Liberty

Dee Stewart
President
Americans for a Balanced Budget

Ginevra Joyce-Meyers
President
Center for Innovation and Free Enterprise

Tom Giovanetti
President
Institute for Policy Innovation

Jeffrey Mazzella
President
Center for Individual Freedom

Sara Croom
President
Trade Alliance to Promote Prosperity

Larry Ward
Chairman
Constitutional Rights PAC

David Covey
Chairman
Orange County Republican Party

Autry Pruitt
CEO
New Journey PAC

Colonel Rob Maness
Founder/Chairman
Gator PAC

Andrew F. Quinlan
President
Center for Freedom and Prosperity

Matthew Kandrach
President
Consumer Action for a Strong Economy

Seton Motley
President
Less Government

Fred Grube
Chairman
Polk County, Texas Republican Party

Amanda Head
Co-Chair
The Alliance to Undoctrinate

Ryan Daniel
Chairman
Liberty County Republican Party

Jeff Leblanc
Chairman
Republican Liberty Caucus of Texas

Krisztina Pusok, Ph. D.
Director of Policy and Research
The American Consumer Institute Center for Citizen Research

Paul Caprio
Director
Family PAC Federal

Morton Blackwell
Chairman
Conservative Leadership PAC

Richard A. Viguerie
Chairman
ConservativeHQ.com

Eunie Smith
President
Eagle Forum

Mat Staver
Chairman
Liberty Counsel Action

Hon. Bob McEwen
US House of Representatives
Member, Ohio

Kelly Shackelford
Board Chairman
CNP Action, Inc.

Joshua Delano
President
Southeast Texans for Liberty

Steven J. Buri
President
Discovery Institute

Kevin Roberts, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Texas Public Policy Foundation

Hon. John Hostettler
Vice President
Federal Affairs States Trust

David Ridenour
President
National Center for Public Policy Research
Preston Noell
President
Tradition, Family, Property, Inc.

Star Parker
President
Center for Urban Renewal and Education (C.U.R.E.)

Kevin L Kearns
President
US Business and Industry Council

Judson Phillips
Founder
Tea Party Nation

Dave Wallace,II
President
FAIR Energy Foundation

Jim Backlin
Vice President of Legislative Affairs
Christian Coalition of America

Ron Pearson
Executive Director
Conservative Victory Fund

Dee Hodges
President
Maryland Taxpayers Association

Craig DiSesa
President
The Middle Resolution

Annette Meeks
CEO
Freedom Foundation of Minnesota

Jon L. Pritchett
CEO
Mississippi Center for Public Policy

Joshua A. Putnam
President
Palmetto Family

Bethany Marcum
Executive Director
Alaska Policy Forum

Fred Birnbaum
Vice President
Idaho Freedom Foundation and Idaho Freedom Action

John Stapleford
Chair
Caesar Rodney Institute (CRI)

Dr. Chris Casscells
Director of Health Care Sector
Caesar Rodney Institute (CRI)

Robert Roper
President
Ethan Allen Institute

Bette Grande
CEO
Roughrider Policy Center

Lynn Taylor
President
Virginia Institute for Public Policy

Jack Boyle
Executive Director
Ohioans for Tax Reform

Andresen Blom
President
Hawaiian Values

Gerrye Johnston
Founder/President
Men and Women for a Representative Democracy in America

Richard C. W. Falknor
Blueridgeforum.com

Maureen Blum
President
Strategic Coalitions & Initiatives, LLC

William H. Shaker
CEO
Washington Marketing Group