And so it continues - HealthCareReform - 2!

Tuesday, 16 June 2009

And so it continues - HealthCareReform - 2!

Most of us were really young in 1993, but that's when Bill Clinton and the Liberal Democrats tried to ram government-run healthcare down the throats of Americans. They thought that bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., needed to make all the decisions about healthcare that are currently made by you, the patient, and your doctor.

Well, we haven't had a Democrat president since Mr. Clinton, until now and Barack Obama, and guess what: Obama and the liberal Democrats want to have government-run, socialistic healthcare all over again!

Two great articles about this. The first one, "From the Chairman," is by U.S. Representative Tom Price, the head of the Republican Study Committee. The second one is from House Minority Leader John Boehner, a U.S. Representative from Ohio, and the highest elected Republican in office today.

These are great articles, and I encourage you to read them and contact your elected officials. If the government socialzes healthcare, meaning, if the government runs healthcare, it will hurt us and our country more than anything else that Barack Obama has done so far.

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From the Chairman

Amidst all the moving parts of a national health care reform package, one central question must rise above everything else to guide our efforts: who do we empower to provide the highest quality health care – patients and doctors, or the federal government?

With President Obama and his Democrat friends pushing a government takeover, it is clear that the Washington-knows-best crowd believes we should put our health care future in the hands of bureaucrats.‪

As a physician, I know first-hand that government intervention has a harmful effect on quality of care, research, innovation, and wait times for patients. Currently, the United States provides some of the highest quality care in the world in these respects. Unfortunately, Democrats seem determined to undo the best parts of the American system while inserting the worst parts of European-style systems.‪

In the United Kingdom, the misnamed National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) determines what treatments, procedures, and drugs should be available to patients. The NICE Board determines whether a remedy meets the government’s fiscal goals, comparing cost to potential survival or cure. This board places a government-endorsed price tag on a patient’s well-being.

Alarmingly, the groundwork for a similar program in the United States has already been laid by a provision in the President’s so-called “stimulus” bill. Democrats have already taken the first steps to implementing a system that values dollars and cents over a patient’s care. President Obama and other Democrats sell this government-run option as the ultimate solution to our insufficient levels of access. To paraphrase James Madison, it could be said that this remedy is perhaps worse than the disease.‪

Positive health care reform will put patients in charge by empowering them with ownership of their coverage and will include tax code reform so that it makes financial sense for all Americans to purchase health insurance. Through this plan, we can reach universal access to care without inflexible government meddling and lower quality.

We should move forward with health system reform, but the policies being pushed by the majority in Washington are alarming in their disregard for the people that matter most: taxpayers and patients. We can provide all Americans access to affordable, quality health care, but we will not find it through a government takeover. If you know someone that wants to join our fight for health care that puts patients first, please have them join us at http://rsc.price.house.gov.

Thanks for your support!

Sincerely,

Congressman Tom Price

Chairman, Republican Study Committee

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CBO: DEMS’ HEALTH CARE PLAN COSTS $1 TRILLION, LEAVES 36 MILLION UNINSURED, FORCES 23 MILLION OUT OF THEIR CURRENT PLANS

AS DEMS' COSTLY PLAN IS EXPOSED, HOUSE REPUBLICANS PREPARE BETTER SOLUTIONS TO INCREASE AMERICANS' ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE

June 16, 2009 | House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) | Permalink

Yesterday’s Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report on a Democratic health care “reform” bill has sent shockwaves through Washington – and middle-class families, small businesses, and all taxpayers are right to take notice. Here’s what CBO has uncovered:

The Democratic plan will cost taxpayers at least $1 trillion;
The legislation will leave at least 36 million Americans uninsured; and
The proposal will force at least 23 million Americans to give up the health coverage they currently enjoy.

This is reform?

House Republicans are working on a better solution to ensure that every American has access to affordable health care. To that end, tomorrow, the House GOP’s Health Care Reform Solutions Group will outline a common-sense plan to reduce costs, expand access, and increase the quality of care in a way that Americans can afford. The GOP plan will:

Expand access to affordable, quality care regardless of pre-existing conditions;
Protect Americans from being forced into a government-run plan, making certain that medical decisions are made by patients and their doctors, not Washington bureaucrats; and
Let Americans who like their health coverage keep it, while giving Americans the freedom to choose the plan that best meets their needs.

With the Democratic and GOP plans now coming into clearer focus, middle-class families and small businesses across the country are beginning to ask: is a $1 trillion government takeover of health care really worth it if it leaves at least 36 million Americans uninsured and forces at least 23 million Americans off their current plans? Or, is the better solution a proposal that will expand access to affordable care while protecting Americans’ relationships with their doctors? That choice will become increasingly evident in the weeks to come, as Democrats in charge of Washington continue pushing their costly plan onto Americans who just don’t support it.

REPUBLICAN LEADER PRESS OFFICE
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH)
H-204, THE CAPITOL
(202) 225-4000 | GOPLEADER.GOV

Posted by W. Estrada