Forum

Post edited 5:39 pm – May 25, 2009 by B.P.T.

I received the following email today, and I wanted to see what others here thought about it:

Tell Congress to Oppose Obamacare: “government takeover of health care will result in rationed care with bureaucrats making decisions for patients.”

Alert: Senate and House Republicans offered a health care reform bill Wednesday that aims for universal coverage, but takes a much different track than Democrats to get there.

In the first major alternative from congressional Republicans, the federal government
would raise money by taxing health care benefits for the first time and turn that revenue back to individuals through tax credits to purchase their own insurance.

There would be no new government-run insurance plan option and no mandates on individuals and employers to buy coverage two proposals favored by many Democrats to expand access to health care.

The bill suggests, however, that Republicans might find conceptual agreement with Democrats in other areas. It would create heavily regulated state insurance exchanges where participating insurers would be required to offer a certain standard of benefits and people would be guaranteed coverage despite preexisting conditions. And it would create an auto-enrollment system in which people could sign up at DMVs and emergency rooms and through places of employment.

“We are showing America can have universal health care access without the government running it,” said Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee. The Patients Choice Act shows how to give all Americans access to affordable insurance where the patients and doctors are in charge not the government.

The four Republican authors want the bill to create a contrast with Democrats, who favor a comprehensive health care fix with a more extensive role for the government. Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander of Tennessee endorsed the plan. And Republican activist Grover Norquist affirmed in a letter to the group that the bill was revenue neutral and would not violate the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, a no-new-taxes pledge that many Republicans have signed.

Still, the Democratic National Committee was quick to criticize the Republican proposal, calling it a rehash of ideas rejected last November. Republican presidential contender John McCain proposed a similar plan for taxing health benefits and providing tax credits to individuals to purchase their own insurance.

The Republican bill would provide a $2,300 tax credit for individuals and $5,700 for families. Low-income families would receive an additional $5,000 to pay for their health care costs.

The bill would remove the stigma of Medicaid by allowing recipients to take a tax credit and subsidy and enroll in private insurance, the co-sponsors said.

The DNC called the tax credits and subsidy inadequate. The average annual premium for families is about $13,000 for families and $5,000 for individuals, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said the cost of insurance would drop for everyone with a strong emphasis on prevention and treatment of chronic diseases, which account for a large proportion of overall health care costs.

The other Republican sponsors are Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Rep. Devin Nunes of California. (politico)

DO NOT BE SILENCED BY ANYONE STAND UP! MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!