New Coat of Paint Doesn’t Fix Healthcare Bill
The President last week announced that the time for debate had ended on his healthcare bill. After a year of debate, a bipartisan summit and numerous ideas to choose from, you would think there would be a new bipartisan bill ready to pass.
Instead, the Administration and Congress are gearing up to push legislation that is not all that different from where we started. The President believes that a fresh coat of paint will fool the American people into buying this clunker. I do not believe it will.
From the beginning, I have believed that the best way to accomplish meaningful health insurance reform was not through mandates and new government programs. Instead, we need to increase competition and access to health insurance through the private market.
We should allow insurance companies to compete across state lines. The marketplace only works when there is competition. I have introduced legislation to help more small businesses obtain affordable health insurance for their employees and their families. Over half of the uninsured are small business owners, their employees or their dependents.
We should also pass reasonable lawsuit reform legislation. Forcing doctors to practice defensive medicine out of fear of lawsuits only increases the premiums that we all pay when we visit a doctor.
The President's bill is too much taxation, too much regulation and too many mandates. I will vote against this bill. There are many solutions that have bipartisan support. I hope that Congress will work together yet to pass meaningful health insurance reform.
Sincerely,
Sam Graves