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Dear Friend, When Republicans took control of the House in January 2011, one of the first things that we did was vote to repeal the new health care law in its entirety. Since then, we have voted 25 times to repeal, dismantle, and defund different parts of the massive, 2000-plus page law. Over the past year or so, the House has successfully led the way in ending two separate programs that are part of the law, including the 1099 IRS-mandate and the free choice vouchers. Both measures passed the Senate, and the President has already signed them into law. The House has also passed a repeal of the long-term care entitlement program known as the CLASS Act. The Administration has ceased implementation of this program. And in spending bills, the House defunded $305 million from the IRS, limiting its ability to implement some of the tax provisions in the health care law. Now, just days before the Supreme Court is set to begin reviewing the constitutionality of the health care law and on the heels of the two-year anniversary of the bill’s signing, the House took additional steps to continue dismantling the health care law. On Thursday, we voted to abolish the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). Originally, the new law authorized IPAB to “control excessive Medicare cost increases.” In reality, the panel would have given 15 unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats the authority to make decisions related to what care you can access and whether insurance would pay for it. Organizations ranging from the American Medical Association, to military and veterans groups, and Easter Seals – more than 390 groups and counting – have expressed support for ending the IPAB. The House also voted in support of commonsense reform to medical malpractice laws (H.R. 5). The reform bill places a $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages (like Texas has), limits attorney’s fees, and establishes a statute of limitations for filing health care lawsuits. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the reforms contained in H.R. 5 could reduce medical liability premiums by 10 percent nationally. I strongly believe that the Obama health care bill was a mistake and that it will adversely affect health care for most of the people in our area and around the country. The new taxes, such as the one on medical devices, the Medicare cuts, and the mandates will mean higher premiums for everyone and more difficulty in finding providers. We have already seen some of these things happening. Therefore, I support repealing the bill or dismantling it piece by piece, and then starting over. We need to make improvements to our health care system. Too much of the money spent on health care does not go towards patient health. Health insurance is becoming harder and harder for many people to afford. Our challenge is to make improvements without endangering the high quality of care we have come to expect. I have proposed some ideas and supported a number of others. Pursuing reform in smaller increments can not only be more successful, but attract the support and trust of the American people as well. As always, I would like to know what you think about health care and other topics that Congress is debating. Sincerely,
*Please note, this email was sent from an unattended mailbox.* |
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