President Obama's Plan

Yesterday, President Obama released his latest proposal for health care legislation. Once again, we see a health care plan that was created without bi-partisan input behind closed doors in the White House. The President’s 11-page proposal melds elements of the House and Senate-passed health care bills along with new provisions. However, the White House has not revealed legislative text and no CBO score is yet available.

After traveling around the district last week, I know the people of the 19th Congressional District want health care reform that lowers the cost of health insurance without growing the size of government. But it’s also clear that the American people don’t want a government takeover of health care.

On Thursday Republican and Democrat leaders will meet with the President at the White House to discuss health care reform. Republicans care about health care, and tomorrow’s meeting will reflect our willingness to work out a plan that actually benefits the American people and will improve their access to affordable, quality health care. The White House claims this health care plan is an improvement of the House and Senate legislation from last year. However in reality, this plan is just another version of the same government takeover of health care that will increase premiums, destroy jobs, raise taxes, and cut Medicare benefits. According to the Obama Administration’s own experts, this bill increases health care spending— not reduces it. This plan would cost at least $950 billion and likely raise individual health insurance premiums by more than $2,100 for every family. While the “Cornhusker Kickback” for Nebraska was dropped from the text, there are still several other states and special interest groups receiving special deals in President Obama’s legislation.

And now, President Obama and the Democrat Leadership will attempt to push this proposal through Congress without bi-partisan support. This is the same thing we saw last year. According to a new Rasmussen poll released today, 41% of voters favor Obama’s health care plan, while 56% oppose it. The American people know what they want, and it is not this health care plan.

We can reform health care without the government restructuring the entire system, and we need to start over with a clean slate. We need a balanced, common sense approach that provides assistance to those who truly need it and keeps health care patient-centered rather than government-centered for everyone.

The GOP alternative would reduce insurance rates by up to 10 percent and give Americans access to high quality, affordable care. As your representative in Congress, you can be certain that I will continue to push for real reform that will empower the people of the 19th Congressional District, not limit their health care coverage. Let’s find immediate, measurable ways to make it more accessible and affordable without jeopardizing quality, individual choice, or personalized care.

To read a full outline of President Obama’s proposal, click here.