Posts Tagged ‘Bill’
The United States Senate seems headed for a vote on a nearly $1 trillion health-care overhaul.
We all recognize the need to change the current system of delivering and financing health care â?? in order to ensure quality and to make coverage more affordable.
The problem is that there is no evidence that the current proposals in Congress will make those needed improvements for Louisianians. In fact, studies by respected organizations have shown that current congressional proposals would result in the people of our state paying significantly more for their health coverage.
The Senate proposal would create an expensive new bureaucracy, levy more taxes on the backs of working citizens and make cuts to Medicare that would mean higher costs borne by our stateâ??s seniors. If the current proposals are signed into law, health-care costs will rise at an even faster rate. This simply is not the kind of solution Louisiana can afford.
Louisianaâ??s health plans support health reform and have pledged changes to their business model to make health care more affordable and accessible for everyone. Some time ago we committed to Congress that we would help adopt pro-consumer rules and sweeping protections that would remove restrictions on pre-existing conditions, end the practice of basing premiums on health status or gender, and help achieve universal coverage.
Health plans cannot support, however, proposed changes that would harm individuals and families already enrolled, and small businesses that have acted responsively in offering coverage to their employees.
It appears that U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., will soon have the opportunity to vote on whether: 1) to approve health-care changes some political leaders consider their legacy, but that the majority of citizens of our state do not want and cannot afford; or 2) to ask their congressional colleagues to take the time to develop true health-care reform that addresses affordability and quality. The choice each one makes will speak loudly here at home.
Our country and state need health-care reform that will make health insurance more affordable and that will expand access to the uninsured. Unfortunately, Congressâ?? current version of health-reform fails to get the job done. Letâ??s take a step back and consider health-care reform that will work.
Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander released a statement this morning saying the Senate-approved health care bill is riddled with “sweetheart deals” that will increase taxes and damage education.
Fellow Republican, Sen. Bob Corker, said the bill is “fundamentally flawed” and called for bipartisanship.
The bill, approved on a 60-39 vote, must still be merged with legislation passed by the House.
“The Senate health bill will prove to be an historic mistake if this or anything like it is ultimately signed by the president,” said Alexander, who is chairman of the Senate Republican Conference.
“Congress set out to reduce health care costs to Americans and Democrats have managed to do the exact opposite. Their written-in-secret bill will increase health insurance premiums, raise taxes, cut Medicare and dump millions of Americans into Medicaid.
“For Tennessee, Medicaid’s expansion and the bill’s ‘sweetheart deals’ would cost our state more than $750 million over five years when fully implemented, forcing tax increases or damaging higher education—or both.
“Instead, we should start over and move step-by-step to reduce health care costs using the steps that Republicans have repeatedly proposed: let small businesses pool resources for health insurance; allow purchasing of health insurance across state lines; end junk lawsuits against doctors; eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse; expand health savings accounts; and promote wellness and prevention.”
Corker said in his statement, “I’ve spent almost three years and countless hours in bipartisan meetings working toward reforms that would enable all Americans to access affordable, private health insurance.
“I wanted a bipartisan health care reform bill that would stand the test of time. Instead, we were forced to vote on a 2,000-plus page, fundamentally flawed, partisan bill that expands Medicaid by sending $25 billion in unfunded mandates to states, takes $464 billion away from Medicare and leverages it to create a new entitlement, uses budget gimmickry to hide its true cost; increases federal costs, and actually causes Americans to face increased taxes and premiums.
“It’s my sincere hope that Congress returns in 2010 more willing to work in a bipartisan fashion, and my work on financial regulatory reform gives me hope that that’s possible.”
U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said Democrats are working to create a “dependency class” in America in an effort to expand their political base and stay in power.
“That’s part of the motive,” King said when discussing federal health-care reform efforts with reporters after a Tuesday taping of Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press.”
King, who represents Iowa’s 5th District, said he will do what he can to try stop a health-care bill from heading to President Barack Obama’s desk, and he urged others who opposed the bill to join him.
He said Democrats are moving toward nation health care, whether a public insurance option is included in the final bill or not.
“That’s the goal; that’s the endeavor,” King said. “They’ll regulate everything, and when they do that, we will lose the liberty we have today to buy health insurance policies.”
He predicted that if Congress passes health-care reform, Democrats will pay a price at the ballot box in 2010.
“I’ve never seen this kind of energy in America, this kind of uprising, especially from the heart of the heartland of America,” King said.
King said he is worried about the “mindset” drifting into America that doesn’t seem to understand the free-enterprise system.
“We’re descendants in this part of the country from people who came across America in covered wagons,” King said. “I mean, they came here to live free or die on the prairie. They didn’t ask for a government handout.”
Norm Sterzenbach, executive director of the Iowa Democratic Party, called King’s comments hypocritical.
“Before he rails against Democrats for working to help seniors pay for prescriptions and help students afford college, he should consider giving up his government salary, as other members of Congress have,” Sterzenbach said.
King, a four-term congressman, said he plans to seek another term in 2010. Iowa is expected to lose one of its congressional seats, and King said he probably still will seek re-election in 2012 even if redistricting places him in the same district with another member of Congress.
As Iowa Republicans look to unseat Gov. Chet Culver next year, King said he did not know whether he would endorse one of the candidates in the GOP primary.
“I’d like to see them fight this out, because it tests their vigor, and it tests their ability, and it also shapes the policy for Republicans that will be matched up against the policy that’s been set by Gov. Culver,” King said.
The “Iowa Press” featuring King is scheduled to air at 7:30 p.m. Friday and noon Sunday on Iowa Public Television.