Former House Speaker Gingrich pushes for changes in health care

Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich visited Iowa Friday to give an address at a health care symposium in Des Moines. Gingrich says the best way to transform the healthcare system is to demand more personal responsibility from patients.He says we have a 70-year tradition of saying that you ought to be irresponsible because, the government, your health insurance company and your doctor are going to take care of you. Gingrich proposes personal healthcare accounts that begin to accumulate money when you start working. He says as Speaker of the House he helped pass the Welfare Reform Bill that he says you cannot sit around in public housing waiting for food stamps doing nothing, as it’s immoral and destructive to you and your children. He says the healthcare accounts would earn interest and roll over from year to year and only be spent when you need medical attention. He says if you don’t take care of yourself, you’re going to spend all of your own money before you get to the insurance company money. Gingrich also supports incentives like company bonuses for diabetics that follow eating and exercise guidelines from their doctors. He says this would help Americans live longer at a lower cost.