John Thune

Congress must get it right when it comes to health care reform. We need lower costs and improved access.

The House bill that passed on Saturday, November 7th by the narrow margin of 220-215, as well as the bill passed by the Democratic majority in the Senate, will instead result in massive spending, new taxes and higher insurance premiums.

The Senate bill, written and negotiated behind closed doors by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, passed the Senate by a vote of 60-39. The House and Senate Democrats are now negotiating this 2,000 + page bill among themselves, and with the White House, in secret. Republicans and the American people deserve to be a part of this process.

Secret, closed door negotiations were not what President Obama promised during the 2008 campaign when he said, “… we’ll have the negotiations televised on C-SPAN so that people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents, and who are making arguments on behalf of the drug companies or the insurance companies.”

 I’m working to change that. Read my letter to Harry Reid.

MASSIVE SPENDING

According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the Reid bill will cost $2.5 trillion over the first ten years of full implementation.  In its analysis, CBO concluded that “federal outlays for health care would increase during the 2010 – 2019 period, as would the federal budgetary commitment to health care.”

NEW TAXES

Under this bill you will be taxed if:

• You have insurance
• You don’t have insurance
• You’re an employer who can’t afford to provide private health insurance
• You use medical devices like hearing aids or artificial hearts
• You take prescription drugs

Read more.

Middle-class families would be hit with double-digit tax increase. Read more.

HIGHER PREMIUMS

The Democrats’ health care bill would increase taxes and fees on drug makers, medical labs, medical device manufacturers and insurers.  According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation, two independent sources, those costs will be passed on to consumers and will result in higher insurance premiums, both for those who purchase their own insurance and those who get their insurance through their employer.

Read more.

The Wall Street Journal:  “ ... fixing the individual market—which is expensive and unstable largely because it does not enjoy the favorable tax treatment given to job-based coverage—was supposed to be the whole purpose of ‘reform.’  Instead, CBO is confirming that new coverage mandates will drive premiums higher.”

Read more.

MORE ABOUT THE HOUSE-PASSED BILL

Learn more about specific provisions of the House bill here.

The Wall Street Journal calls Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s bill that passed the House on November 7th the “worst bill ever.”  “Epic new spending and taxes, pricier insurance, rationed care, dishonest accounting: The Pelosi health bill has it all.”  Read more.

DEMOCRATS CONCERNED ABOUT GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTH CARE

"We're trying to do too much at once. To put this government-created, government-run insurance company on top of everything else is just asking for trouble for the taxpayer, for the premium payer and for the national debt." (Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Independent Senator from Connecticut who caucuses with Democrats, on Reid’s health care bill). Read more.

EVERY REPUBLICAN IN CONGRESS SUPPORTS REFORM

“Health care costs are too high, and too many Americans lack health insurance. I have said so in just about every one of those 50 speeches … And every other Senate Republican is on record favoring common sense reforms for a system that needs them – ideas such as medical liability reform and equalizing the tax treatment for businesses and individuals who buy insurance. Republicans are also on record about what we don’t favor – a 1,500-page bill that includes a lot of things Americans didn’t ask for and very little of what they did.” – Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell

Read more.

BILL WOULD REQUIRE FAMILIES TO PAY UP TO 18% OF INCOME IN HEALTH CARE COSTS

“Under the House bill, the budget office said, a family of four with income of $78,000 in 2016 would pay, on average, an annual premium of $8,800 and co-payments of $5,000, for a total of $13,800, equivalent to 18 percent of the family’s income.” 

Read more.

SECRET, CLOSED-DOOR HEALTH REFORM NEGOTIATIONS DECRIED

Read the Politico article.

MASSIVE NEW COSTS FOR STATES

Read more.