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As a member of the Senate Health, Education,
Labor, and Pensions Committee as well as a former small
business owner, I am aware of the problems our nation faces
regarding health care, and am sensitive to the struggles the
average, hard-working American faces when trying to gain
access to adequate and affordable health care. I agree we
must look for solutions to find ways to provide affordable
health care to individuals who lack access to health
insurance through an employer.
On July 15, I voted against a
health care reform bill that was crafted exclusively by
Senate Democrats. Republicans were shut out of the drafting
of the bill, and numerous attempts to improve the bill in
Committee were blocked by Committee Democrats. The bill
passed out of Committee by a vote of 13 to 10. As written,
this bill will do nothing to alleviate the financial burden
of health care costs or raise the standard of care. This
flawed health care reform bill will cost U.S. taxpayers over
$1 trillion dollars and will place a massive financial
burden on Georgia and other states to pay for a proposed 50
percent expansion of Medicaid eligibility.
I believe that the government-run "public option" plan
included in this bill will end up decreasing choice and
quality for consumers. It also will place the federal
government in unfair competition with private health
insurers and managed care providers, as it will be
impossible for private entities to compete fairly with the
government that regulates them, taxes them, and is exempt
from having to pay taxes itself. I also oppose a mandate in
the bill that will require employers with more than 25
workers to provide insurance or pay a penalty. I believe
that provision would force many small businesses to
eliminate jobs.
With a likely cost of more
than $1 trillion, I am disappointed that the Committee
rejected several amendments designed to reduce frivolous
medical lawsuits. These lawsuits dive up health care costs
by forcing physicians to purchase expensive malpractice
policies and practice defensive medicine by ordering
wasteful tests and procedures.
This bill will also expand the
number of individuals eligible for Medicaid by allowing
individuals earning up to 150 percent of the federal poverty
level to be eligible for full Medicaid benefits. Currently,
Medicaid is available to only those who earn up to 100
percent of the poverty level, meaning that the new plan
represents a 50 percent increase in Medicaid. When Medicaid
was first created in 1968, Georgia's total Medicaid spending
was nearly $7.7 million, or 1 percent of all state
spending. In 2008, Georgia's total Medicaid spending was
over $2.4 billion, or 12 percent of all state spending.
This new proposal would cost Georgia and other states
billions of additional dollars to meet the 50 percent
increase for their required share of Medicaid costs.
There are many good proposals from the
Republican side of the aisle on how to address health care
reform in creative ways. Many of these proposals focus on
health care coverage through a private market provider-an
idea that I support-rather than single-payer government
insurance. Access to insurance through a private entity
will increase choice for the consumer and quality for the
patient. Numerous Republican amendments designed to reign
in out-of-control spending and achieve true, effective
reform were rejected.
I am a co-sponsor of S.1099, the Patient's
Choice Act of 2009, which seeks to strengthen the
relationship between patient and doctors by using choice and
competition, rather than health care rationing and
restriction, to contain costs and ensure affordable health
care for all Americans. For more information on the Patient
Choice Act please visit my website at http://isakson.senate.gov/healthcare.html.
Thank you again for contacting
me and for your advocacy on behalf of health care reform.
Please visit my webpage at http://isakson.senate.gov/
for more information on the issues important to you and to
sign up for my e-newsletter.
Sincerely,
Johnny Isakson
United States Senator
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