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OD runs for Congress
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A Pennsylvania optometrist plans to support investment tax credits and enact tort reform if elected to Congress later this year.
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Davis C. Haire, OD, is running for the Republican nomination in the 10th district of Pennsylvania in April’s primary. As a provider for more than 30 years in Tunkhannock, Dr. Haire is strongly opposed to socialized health care and the “middle-man” syndrome evident in health care today, he told Primary Care Optometry News in an interview.
Medical savings accounts would make individuals accountable for their own medical expenses, he said. Rather than paying money into a third party, the individual pays the practitioner directly for services rendered. “If you eliminate that middle-man, the patient receives dollar-per-dollar service and the providers receive dollar-per-dollar compensation,” Dr. Haire said.
“Many people confuse these medical savings accounts with flex plans, where if you don’t use it you lose it. That’s just not the case,” he said. “We have to educate people about the fact that their money accrues with them … they do not leave it (when they change jobs). It’s portable. And it has many advantages.”
Dr. Haire also intends to support investment tax credits, which allow practitioners to re-invest in their practice by purchasing new equipment. “If we have new equipment, we’re able to do a better job, the patient receives better care, and we’re also helping the economy grow,” he said.
Another important issue Dr. Haire intends to tackle is tort reform. “It creates limited access to care and increased costs, and there could be significant ramifications if we do not enact some kind of tort reform. This is health care. There is always some unforeseen complication, and you have to make patients aware of that.”
Dr. Haire is torn on the issue of mandated preschool eye exams, a hot topic in the field of eye care. “Comprehensive eye exams are essential to learning,” he said. “I don’t know if it should be placed in the school … because that moves us more toward socialized medicine. I’m not a proponent of socialized medicine.”
For more information:
- Davis C. Haire, OD, can be reached at PO Box 66 Tunkhannock, PA 18657; (570) 836-0992; e-mail: info@davishaireforcongress.com; Web site: www.davishaireforcongress.com.