Jacob Ogles
A group of Southwest Florida physicians announced their joint endorsement Thursday for Dane Eagle for Congress.
Doctors For Dane is a group of a dozen physicians backing his candidacy.
Eagle is one of nine Republicans running for the GOP nomination in Florida’s 19th Congressional District. Polls have shown him in the top tier of candidates. Notably, the physicians backing Eagle passed over a member of their own profession, Naples urologist William Figlesthaler, who has also been polling high.
The House Republican Leader said that shows his long-term work on behalf of medical professionals.
“In my tenure in the Florida House, I helped lead the charge for free market solutions to improve the quality and access of healthcare, while reducing costs to Floridians,” Eagle said.
“These are the same principles I will take to Washington to finally break the chains of Obamacare. I am beyond honored to have so many esteemed physicians supporting me, and I look forward to working with them to make high quality healthcare more affordable for all Americans.”
Drs. James Rubinstein and Jonathan Frantz, both based in Fort Myers, penned a letter as co-chairs of the new group. The oncologist and ophthalmologist stressed that with public health such a crucial issue this year, strong leadership in Washington is as important as ever.
“Recently our country has been ravaged by COVID-19, and with this unprecedented crisis upon us, it is imperative we elect a proven and committed leader to represent us in Washington,” the letter reads. “Dane Eagle has the experience and principles we need in Congress.”
But more broadly, the physicians also stressed a need for medical voices to be heard in the health care debate. With rhetoric seeming to allude to the restrictions in the Affordable Care Act and decades-long concerns about high malpractice insurance costs, the doctors made the case for a business-friendly Republican.
“As doctors, we spend our entire careers helping people, waking up each day to take care of the sick and to prevent the healthy from becoming ill,” the letter reads.
“Unfortunately, runaway government regulations, senseless Medicare and insurance rules like preauthorizations and step therapy, and the proliferation of frivolous ‘junk lawsuits’ have made it more difficult every year for us to provide the care we demand to protect the health and welfare of our patients.”
