Today, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats unveiled their final 2,000-page health care plan (HR 3962) after weeks of Democrat-only, closed-door negotiations.
“Apparently, because this is health care legislation, the House Democrats thought doctor-patient confidentiality rules should apply to their secret negotiations,” U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland said. “The voices of those opposed to a government takeover of health care have been shut out of this debate. We got a taste of how strongly people feel on this issue during the August town halls, and I think those voices that Pelosi ignored will be heard loudly in the coming days.”
Westmoreland took issue with House Majority Leader’s Steny Hoyer’s assertion that the legislation meets an “urgent” need.
“Republicans and Democrats agree that we have too many uninsured Americans and too many family tragedies related to health care costs,” Westmoreland said. “But let’s be clear: This legislation won’t meet those needs urgently. In fact, benefits don’t take affect for three more years. The only thing that the Democrats think is ‘urgent’ enough to enact immediately are the tax hikes and mandates that will kill off even more jobs in this ailing economy.”
Westmoreland cites several tenets of the bill as problematic:
· $500 billion in cuts to Medicare, which Westmoreland sees as either ‘phantom cuts’ that will never take place or catastrophic for seniors’ health care coverage.
· Bill contains the word “shall” 3,425 times – that’s a lot of government mandates.
· Expanding eligibility for Medicaid, which will hike costs for budget-strapped state governments.
· Tax hikes on small business owners, whom we’re relying on to create new jobs in this economy.
· Mandates on business to provide coverage to all employees or face penalties, creating a “tax on jobs” that will lead to fewer jobs.
· A government-run ‘public option’ that will eventually crowd out private plans, causing many Americans to lose their current coverage.
· The legislation’s financing will cost much more than advertised, placing yet another burden on our national debt. The legislation comes in below $1 trillion over 10 years only because 1) Democrats moved the cost of paying Medicare fees to doctors (more than $200 billion) into another bill and 2) they count 10 years of revenues but only seven years of expenses.
Westmoreland points out that, contrary to Democratic claims that the Republicans are simply the “Party of No,” the GOP has offered an alternative called the Empowering Patients First Act. This legislation, HR 3400, would 1) make access to coverage affordable for all Americans; 2) make coverage truly owned and controlled by the patient; 3) improve the healthcare delivery structure; and 4) rein in out-of-control costs, including through robust liability reform.
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Showing posts with label healthcare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label healthcare. Show all posts
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Campaign for Guaranteed Healthcare for All Begins in Illinois with New Single-Payer Bill
/PRNewswire/ -- Registered nurses, doctors, medical students, and dozens of labor and healthcare community activists will join with Rep. Mary Flowers and other Illinois legislators TODAY to introduce state legislation for a single-payer, Medicare-for-all style system. HB 311, the Healthcare for All Illinois Act, would guarantee healthcare for every state resident.
A broad coalition of healthcare activists, including the National Nurses Organizing Committee, Physicians for a National Health Program, Healthcare for All-Illinois, and American Medical Students Association, will gather in Springfield for a press conference and hearing on the bill.
"Illinois can once again be a symbol of hope and progress for our nation," said Brenda Langford, RN, a registered nurse at the Cook County Bureau of Health Services. "Nurses are tired of watching our patients suffer from denial of care and lack of access to coverage. We see far too much of this at Cook County hospitals--and that's why we support guaranteed healthcare through a single-payer system."
"Our time for genuine solutions to the healthcare crisis is now," said Rose Ann DeMoro, executive director of the National Nurses Organizing Committee, principal sponsor of the bill. "We know that guaranteed healthcare systems around the world do a better job of caring for patients, at a lower cost, and we know that inefficient and wasteful health insurance companies have helped push our nation into recession. HB 311 would fix these problems in Illinois, while offering every patient the care they deserve."
DeMoro and Langford both noted the growing urgency for HB311, especially as the state's economy continues to plummet. A recent NNOC study shows single-payer not only saves lives and people's health, it is also an economic stimulus.
Nationally, the study found, implementation of a single-payer system would create 2.6 million new jobs, infuse $317 billion in new business and public revenues, and inject another $100 billion in wages into the U.S. economy. The jobs, through increased spending on healthcare delivery, ripple through the economy, creating employment in retail, manufacturing, and other sectors in addition to healthcare.
The campaign for HB311 coincides with similar efforts nationally on behalf of a Medicare for all bill, HR 676, in Congress, and a national debate on the best path to single-payer.
A centerpiece of the effort for both the Illinois and national bills will be public education on how single-payer is the most comprehensive, cost-effective reform.
HB 311 establishes a state-administered system to provide comprehensive coverage to all Illinois residents, delivered by our current mostly private network of physicians, hospitals, doctors' offices, and other providers. Coverage would no longer be tied to job status or health condition or subject to ever-rising premiums, co-pays, and deductibles.
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A broad coalition of healthcare activists, including the National Nurses Organizing Committee, Physicians for a National Health Program, Healthcare for All-Illinois, and American Medical Students Association, will gather in Springfield for a press conference and hearing on the bill.
"Illinois can once again be a symbol of hope and progress for our nation," said Brenda Langford, RN, a registered nurse at the Cook County Bureau of Health Services. "Nurses are tired of watching our patients suffer from denial of care and lack of access to coverage. We see far too much of this at Cook County hospitals--and that's why we support guaranteed healthcare through a single-payer system."
"Our time for genuine solutions to the healthcare crisis is now," said Rose Ann DeMoro, executive director of the National Nurses Organizing Committee, principal sponsor of the bill. "We know that guaranteed healthcare systems around the world do a better job of caring for patients, at a lower cost, and we know that inefficient and wasteful health insurance companies have helped push our nation into recession. HB 311 would fix these problems in Illinois, while offering every patient the care they deserve."
DeMoro and Langford both noted the growing urgency for HB311, especially as the state's economy continues to plummet. A recent NNOC study shows single-payer not only saves lives and people's health, it is also an economic stimulus.
Nationally, the study found, implementation of a single-payer system would create 2.6 million new jobs, infuse $317 billion in new business and public revenues, and inject another $100 billion in wages into the U.S. economy. The jobs, through increased spending on healthcare delivery, ripple through the economy, creating employment in retail, manufacturing, and other sectors in addition to healthcare.
The campaign for HB311 coincides with similar efforts nationally on behalf of a Medicare for all bill, HR 676, in Congress, and a national debate on the best path to single-payer.
A centerpiece of the effort for both the Illinois and national bills will be public education on how single-payer is the most comprehensive, cost-effective reform.
HB 311 establishes a state-administered system to provide comprehensive coverage to all Illinois residents, delivered by our current mostly private network of physicians, hospitals, doctors' offices, and other providers. Coverage would no longer be tied to job status or health condition or subject to ever-rising premiums, co-pays, and deductibles.
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