Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Charles W. Boustany, Jr., (R-Southwest Louisiana), today urged President Obama and Congressional leaders to scrap the proposed massive health care overhaul and instead focus on targeted solutions to bring down health care costs.

“The President’s new proposals still add up to more than $1 trillion in new spending, $500 billion in new taxes and nearly a half trillion raid of Medicare, which the American people continue to reject,” said Boustany.  “We need a commonsense approach, but these 2,000 plus page bills simply aren’t the way to lower health care costs or put patients in control.  Congressional leaders and the President need to scrap these overhaul proposals, and begin with bipartisan approaches from the start.”

Earlier in the day, Boustany hosted a conference call with reporters to highlight the cost Louisiana patients and families pay as a result of defensive medicine.  Duplication and other preventable costs lead to more expensive medical bills.  Dr. Keith DeSonier, of Lake Charles, participated in the call as well and noted various ways defensive medicine drives up health costs.

Boustany, a cardiothoracic surgeon with more than 20 years of experience, was first elected to Congress in December 2004.  Serving his third term in office, Boustany sits on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee with jurisdiction over tax policy, Medicare and entitlement programs.