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| 10 FACTS EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD KNOW ABOUT SEN. BAUCUS’ COSTLY GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTH CARE BILL GOP LEADER: “THIS PARTISAN BILL IS THE WRONG PRESCRIPTION DURING THESE TOUGH ECONOMIC TIMES" | |
| September 23, 2009 | House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) | Permalink As the Senate Finance Committee gets set to begin its second day examining Senator Max Baucus’ (D-MT) costly government run-health carebill, House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) released a list of 10facts every American should know about what he calls “the wrongprescription during these tough economic times:”
Here are the top 10 facts every American should know about Senator Baucus’ proposed government takeover of health care: 1. Medicare Cuts Mean Reduced Benefits, Fewer Choices for Seniors.The Baucus plan cuts Medicare by nearly $500 billion, slashing coveragemillions of seniors depend on. These benefit cuts will ultimatelyeliminate choices currently enjoyed by seniors today. Doug Elmendorf,the head of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, told the Senate Finance Committeeyesterday he “expected the Medicare Advantage plans to lose 2.7 millionenrollees over the next decade” as a result of the Baucus plan. 2. Individual Mandate Results in Hefty Tax Increase for Millions of Americans.The Baucus plan mandates that every American buy health insurance orpay a hefty new tax to Washington of up to $1,900 per year. This newtax will take another $20 billion hard earned dollars from workingfamilies. Especially during a recession, this new tax will placeanother large burden on the family budget. 3. No Junk Lawsuit Reform to Reduce Health Care Costs. The Baucus plan includes only a “Sense of the Senate” with respect to the very pressing issue of junk lawsuit reform. Seriouschanges are needed to reduce costly,unnecessary defensive medicinepracticed by doctorstrying to protect themselves from a feeding frenzyof trial lawyers. The Baucusplan misses an opportunity for real reform. 4. New Taxes Harm Small Businesses, Costs Jobs. The Baucus plan saddles small businesses that have more than 50employees with a new tax of up to $199,600 per year if they do notprovide health coverage to their employees. Census datacompiled by the Small Business Administration, however, reveals thatthe Baucus “small business exemption” – for businesses with fewer than50 employees – will still subject many small employers to new taxes andmandates. In fact, this so-called “exemption” could still subject220,000 small businesses that employ 44% of all small businessemployees and 22% of the entire private sector workforce to the newtaxes and mandates. The 220,000 small businesses targeted by the Baucusplan employ 26.4 million employees and provide those employees $982billion in wages annually. 5. Higher Health Care Costs for Working Families.The Baucus plan would actually raise insurance premiums for workingfamilies, not lower them. In a letter to Chairman Baucus, thenonpartisan Congressional Budget Office stated,“premiums in the new insurance exchanges would tend to be higher thanthe average premiums in the current-law individual market…” Meanwhile,a recent study published in Health Affairsfound that a government-run plan similar to the one being proposed inHouse Democrats’ bill could cause annual insurance premiums for afamily of four to increase by more than $4,500. 6. $420 Billion in New Tax Increases on Families & Small Businesses.The Baucus plan includes a host of new taxes on American families andjob creators. Taxes on individuals who are uninsured, taxes onemployers that do not offer health insurance coverage, and taxes onhealth care products like wheelchairs and other medical devices andinsurance are just some of the more than $420 billion in new taxincreases included in the bill. At a time when families and smallbusinesses are already struggling to make ends meet, new taxes of thismagnitude would only further slow the economy and raise the cost ofcare for those patients who need it most. 7. Lower Wages and More Unemployment.The Baucus plan would impose a new $27 billion tax on employers,including small businesses, that cannot afford to provide healthcoverage or that don’t offer coverage. The effect of this type of tax,similar to a payroll tax increase, would ultimately fall squarely onworkers in the form of lower wages or reduced employment. In fact, theTax Policy Center concludedthat “economists generally believe that the burden of payroll taxes isborne by workers in the form of lower wages, regardless of whether thetax is levied on the employer or the employee.” The tax proposed in theBaucus plan will likely have the same effect. 8. Higher Taxes on American Manufacturers.In order to find revenue to “pay for” his plan, Senator Baucus includedmassive new taxes on various industry segments in the health caresector. These new taxes include $17.2 billion tax on pharmaceuticalmanufacturers, a $30 billion tax on medical device manufacturers, and a$45 billion tax on health insurers. These massive tax increases onAmerican manufacturers will be passed on to American families, and theywill make the cost of health care more expensive. These tax increaseswill also serve as a major disincentive for innovation, capitalinvestment and job creation. With some Senate Democrats clamoring foradditional – and costly – subsidies, how many more tax increases willbe added before it goes for a vote in the Senate? When will Democratsreveal what other tax increases they have in store for American workingfamilies and employers? 9. A Lack of Support From Senate Democrats. Key Senate Democrats have voiced concern about the Baucus plan, including Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV,) who said“there is no way” he would support it “unless it changes in theamendment process by vast amounts.” What’s more, Senator Bill Nelson(D-FL) described the Medicare cuts in the Baucus plan as “intolerable”in remarks on the Senate floor last week, while Senator Ron Wyden(D-OR) “complainedthe legislation would ask working Americans to commit as much as 13% oftheir income to buy basic insurance,” calling it a “real hit onmiddle-class families.” 10. Is the Baucus Plan Written in Invisible Ink? WhileHouse Democrats have marked up legislation in three differentcommittees, the Senate Finance Committee is taking a differentapproach. The Committee is working off of a framework document thatsummarizes what they would like to do, but doesn’t offer specifics onhow it would be done. That leaves big questions about just how thisplan will work and doesn’t allow for a full and transparent debate onthe plan. At a time when the American people are asking theirlegislators, “Have you read the bill?” the clear answer among SenateFinance Committee members will be “no.” BONUS: House Republicans have offered fiscally responsible solutionsto make health care more affordable and accessible for every American.Our proposals recognize the need to implement reforms that build onwhat works in health care, rather than replacing it with aone-size-fits-all government-run system. | |
| REPUBLICAN LEADER PRESS OFFICE REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH) H-204, THE CAPITOL     (202) 225-4000 | GOPLEADER.GOV | |
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