Op-Eds

Last week, President Obama signed into law a health care reform bill that was trumpeted by some as the cure for our country’s ills.

I believe we need health care reform; we need to make health care more affordable and more accessible. However, I opposed the bill the Majority pushed through Congress because it is just a massive spending bill costing $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years and does not address the number one issue associated with health care reform – lowering costs for all Americans.

For the past year, I have heard from constituents all across the district about health care reform. An overwhelming majority were against this approach - against piling on large amounts of debt to future generations and against the huge expansion of government.

Seniors who are looking for help will be getting half-a-trillion dollars in cuts to Medicare, including a $202.3 billion cut to the Medicare Advantage program. For those who live on a fixed income, the possibility of having to pay more or see their benefits reduced is very worrisome.

Beginning in 2014, Americans will be required to buy health insurance or pay a penalty.

So, families who were hoping to lower their health care costs will see higher taxes and insurance premiums, including 46 percent of families making less than $66,150 who will be forced to pay the individual mandate penalty.

The bill includes a tax on health insurance providers which will cause costs to go up and subjects more income to the Medicare tax, taking even more money out of the pockets of middle class families.

Kentucky's state legislators have been working tirelessly to balance the state budget while preserving vital education funding and infrastructure projects and this bill saddles them with millions of dollars in unfunded Medicaid mandates.

There are $52 billion in new taxes and fines on employers who cannot afford to pay their employees’ health care or provide government approved plans, imposed at a time when unemployment is 9.7 percent.

Small businesses, who are already struggling in this economy, will now have a hard time hiring new employees, continuing to provide for the ones they currently have and an even more difficult time maintaining part-time staff, leaving those most in need of jobs with fewer options.

An estimated 16,500 new IRS auditors, agents and other employees may be needed to collect the hundreds of billions of dollars in new taxes and penalties levied on the American people.

I supported an alternative to this bill that focused first on reducing the cost of health care for every American.

Our solution showed that it is achievable to address many of the health care issues Americans are concerned about without such terrible consequences. Our solution, which included coverage for individuals with pre-existing conditions, allowed parents to keep their children on their health plans through age 25, tackled meaningful medical malpractice reform and allowed Americans to purchase insurance across state lines, did so without raising taxes, destroying jobs, cutting Medicare, or burdening our children and grandchildren with trillions in new debt.

However, the Liberal Majority in Congress was not willing to work in a bipartisan way or listen to the will of the American people. The only bipartisan thing about this bill was the vote against it.

And the reconciliation bill, which was called the ‘fix-it’ bill, promising to repair all of the issues in the health care bill, only made matters worse.

The reconciliation bill increased the cuts to Medicare, raised taxes even more, cut critical payments to community hospitals, and included a government takeover of student loans.

So the federal government will now be taking the money students pay in interest and fees on their student loan debt and using it to fund this bill, instead of taking the lower interest rate the government is given and passing those savings onto the students to help make college more affordable.

I believe we need health care reform. However, we also need to help foster an environment where businesses can succeed, our economy can grow and more jobs can be created.

Our efforts are not over. This is not the end and we will continue to work to repeal the terrible provisions included in the health care and reconciliation bills and replace them with a plan that focuses on reducing the cost of health care for American families.