Health Care

Our health care system needs to be reformed, but we need the right kind of reform, not the massive spending, new taxes and higher insurance premiums that would result from the bill currently under consideration in Congress.

I am opposed to a government-run insurance plan or “public option” as part of any reform bill.  If such a plan is created, I will fight for and would vote for requiring all Members of Congress to join the public plan.  Additionally, I am opposed to carve outs and exceptions for special interests, such as labor unions.   

Real reform to bring down health care costs for consumers without increasing the deficit or raising taxes could include:

• Enacting medical malpractice reform to curb frivolous lawsuits and end the costly practice of defensive medicine
• Allowing consumers to purchase insurance across state lines to increase competition and lower costs
• Prohibiting denial of coverage based on pre-existing medical conditions
• Providing full tax deductibility for individuals who purchase private health insurance and making all medical expenses not covered by insurance fully tax deductible
• Allowing small businesses to band together to increase the size of risk pools and obtain lower cost coverage for employees
• Increasing the use of medical savings accounts
• Eliminating bureaucratic red tape and reducing government regulation to lower compliance and paperwork costs for medical providers
• Modernizing medical records technology and payment systems
• Eliminating waste, fraud and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid systems

Read More About the Bills Currently Being Debated in Congress:

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL:
“Yesterday saw some rare good news on the health-care front, with the stealth Democratic plan to move $247 billion in ObamaCare costs off the books collapsing in the Senate on a procedural vote of 47 to 53. Maybe there's more anxiety among Democrats about a huge permanent increase in government health spending than the White House is willing to let on.”…
 
…“As for the Democrats who are worried about spending, or claim to be worried, we trust they understand that the entire premise of ObamaCare rests on automatic future spending cuts like the doctor payments that will never happen in practice, among other budget gimmicks. If they can't eat a mere $247 billion, then they shouldn't eat ObamaCare's other future trillions.”
Editorial, “Temporary Beltway Sanity,” The Wall Street Journal, 10/22/09

Is President Obama’s Chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers opposed to the Democrats’ health care reform bill?

“Given the current precarious state of the economy, substantial near-term spending cuts or tax increases to reduce the deficit would threaten the recovery.”
Source: Christina Romer, Chair, White House Council of Economic Advisers, Testimony Before The Joint Economic Committee, 10/22/09

The Baucus Bill Raises Taxes

It increases your taxes if you currently have insurance:

$201 BILLION FROM EXCISE TAX ON SOME UNION AND OTHER GENEROUS HEALTH PLANS.
“Nationwide, About One In 10 Family Insurance Plans Would Be Subject To The New Excise Tax, According To The Center On Budget And Policy Priorities, A Liberal-Leaning Policy And Research Group.”
“A Proposed Tax On The Cadillac Health Insurance Plans May Also Hit The Chevys,” The New York Times, 9/21/09

It increases your taxes if you don’t have insurance:

$4 BILLION FROM A NEW FINE ON THE UNINSURED.
“Penalty payments by uninsured individuals, which would amount to $4 billion…”
CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf, Letter To Sen. Baucus, P.5, 10/7/09

It increases taxes on employers who can’t afford to provide insurance:

$23 BILLION FROM EMPLOYERS. 
“Penalty payments by employers whose workers received subsidies via the exchanges, which would total $23 billion…”
CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf, Letter To Sen. Baucus, P.5, 10/7/09

It increases taxes on medical devices:

$38 BILLION IN NEW TAXES ON MEDICAL DEVICE MANUFACTURERS. “Impose annual fee on manufacturers and importers of certain medical devices … 38.6 [billion].”
Estimated Revenue Effects Of The Revenue Provisions Contained In Title VI Of The ‘America's Healthy Future Act Of 2009,’” Joint Committee On Taxation, P.2, 10/8/09

It increases taxes on prescription drugs:

$22 BILLION IN NEW TAXES ON MEDICINES.
“Impose annual fee on manufacturers and importers of branded drugs … 22.2 [billion].”
“Estimated Revenue Effects Of The Revenue Provisions Contained In Title VI Of The ‘America's Healthy Future Act Of 2009,’” Joint Committee On Taxation, P.2, 10/8/09

Real reform would not use budget gimmicks and trickery to hide the real costs of legislation.  The true cost of the Baucus bill is more than $1.8 trillion after it is fully implemented in 2014.  The bill delays implementation of some of the more costly provisions while immediately making the tax increases take effect – all so that the bill’s backers can claim it costs less than $900 billion in the first ten years.

The Wall Street Journal:
“Washington has just run a $1.4 trillion budget deficit for fiscal 2009, even as we are told a new health-care entitlement will reduce red ink by $81 billion over 10 years. To believe that fantastic claim, you have to ignore everything we know about Washington and the history of government health-care programs.” …

…“Let's start with the claim that a more pervasive federal role will restrain costs and thus make health care more affordable. We know that over the past four decades precisely the opposite has occurred. Prior to the creation of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965, health-care inflation ran slightly faster than overall inflation. In the years since, medical inflation has climbed 2.3 times faster than cost increases elsewhere in the economy. Much of this reflects advances in technology and expensive treatments, but the contrast does contradict the claim of government as a benign cost saver.”
Editorial, “Health Costs And History,” The Wall Street Journal, 10/20/09

Click here to read about Trey's stance on proposed public funding of abortions.