June 18, 2009 11:28 am ET
In a June 18, 2009 blog post on The Hill, Rep. Peter Roskam posted "5 Principles for Health Care Reform." The very first principle was a Frank Luntz talking point.
Rep. Roskam: "Enhance the Doctor-Patient Relationship Preserving and strengthening the doctor-patient relationship is critical to healthcare reform. Patients should always have their choice of doctor, hospital and procedure. No bureaucrat-in Washington or at an insurance company-should be able to delay or choose who, where and what patients receive." [Roskam blog post, TheHill.com, 6/18/09]
Luntz Memo, Rule 7: "One-size-does-NOT-fit-all." The idea that a "committee of Washington bureaucrats" will establish the standard of care for all Americans and decide who gets what treatment based on how much it costs is anathema to Americans. Your approach? Call for the "protection of the personalized doctor-patient relationship." It allows you to fight to protect and improve something good rather than only fighting to prevent something bad. [The Language of Healthcare 2009, by Frank Luntz, accessed 5/21/09, emphasis original]
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