Small Town News

Repeal, replace trillion dollar health care law

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Over the last several years, Americans have heard repeated promises from those who control Washington, D.C., regarding a comprehensive health care law that would allow them to keep their health care plan if they liked it, would not raise costs for families and would strengthen Medicare for seniors.

They also said the bill would be fully paid for, would not increase the deficit and would create jobs. Not six months after the government takeover of health care became law, it's clear each of these promises has been broken.

Since the law has begun to take effect, numerous studies have examined it. Most importantly, for those families already overburdened with the rising cost of health care, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has said the new law will increase premiums for a typical family by $2,100 over what they would have been had the bill not been enacted.

Second, the new law includes a provision requiring all businesses to send their vendors an IRS form for any purchase costing more than $600 dollars.

Rather than making it easier for businesses to grow and hire workers, this law mandates a brand new and costly reporting requirement. These new regulations will cost small businesses time and money that could otherwise be invested elsewhere.

Also included in the Democrat's bill was a $500 billion cut to Medicare. As a result, the new health law will force more than seven million American seniors out of their current Medicare Advantage plan, cutting choices for seniors and millions of beneficiaries forced out of their current health plan.

Additionally, several studies have shown more than six million retirees who currently receive prescription drug coverage through their former employers will lose that coverage. The bottom line is seniors will receive worse health coverage because of this new law.

Other consequences of the new bill are some employers have already dropped coverage for employees and some insurance companies have discontinued coverage.

Experts who examine the fiscal health of Medicare say if the program continues under the most likely scenario, it will run out of money at a quicker rate than if the bill hadn't become law.

These facts and more have shown me the Democrats' government takeover of health care law is bad for seniors, bad for employers, bad for families on a budget and bad for American workers.

That's why I support measures to repeal this new health care law and replace it with common sense solutions that will reduce costs and increase access, without increasing taxes, without cutting Medicare and without putting the government between you and your doctor.



Copyright 2010 The Othello Outlook, Othello, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2011 The Othello Outlook Othello, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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