Carson to Pitch ACA Alternative to GOP Congressional Health CaucusFriday, 28 Mar 2014 03:25 PM
By Sandy Fitzgerald
Dr. Ben Carson will talk about his ideas for healthcare reform during a members-only meeting of the Congressional Health Caucus, a group of Republicans that meets regularly to discuss healthcare policy.
Carson, a retired director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, will discuss his perspectives in a short statement and then discuss the issue in a question-and-answer session, Texas Republican Rep. Michael Burgess, who leads the group told The Daily Caller.
Burgess said the caucus invited Carson back after he was received well last summer, and admitted that lawmakers will probably be thinking of Carson in another way this time around — as a potential Republican candidate for 2016.
"I expect him to cover some of the same things he did last time, but you know, Dr. Carson, is sort of gaining a national presence," said Burgess. "Obviously, the 2014 elections are ahead of us. But there’s another election that will follow that. He’s been going around the country talking to a lot of people, taking the pulse, the temperature, of lots of different groups around the country. We’re interested in what his travels have revealed to him."
Carson continues to insist he has no plans to seek the presidency, but a super PAC, the National Draft Ben Carson for President Committee, claims to have already raised nearly $3 million to convince him to run.
The retired doctor chairs the American Legacy PAC's Save Our Healthcare Project, and plans to release a list of principles soon as part of a plan to replace Obamacare.
During the Conservative Political Action Conference earlier this month, Carson said Americans want "something better" when it comes to their health care.
"We want the health care in our own hands," said the outspoken Carson. "We can do it. We pay twice as much per capita for health care in this country than the next closest nation. We can easily do this. We have a lot of alternatives."
PAC spokesman R.C. Hammond said Carson will release his detailed replacement plan in a few months.
The PAC also has ties to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and his wife Callista, who are its honorary co-chairs. Hammond said the group will report that it raised nearly $1 million in this year's first quarter.
