Learn More about the Health Care Legislation

House of Representatives: The Pelosi bill, H.R. 3962, “The Affordable Health Care for America Act” was narrowly approved by the House on November 7. Although very similar to health care legislation unveiled by the House over the summer, the Pelosi bill is even worse.

H.R. 3962 will not lower costs, it will raise them. It will not cover all the uninsured, and it will threaten the current employer-sponsored coverage of tens of millions of Americans.

• The bill explodes government spending, costs over $1 trillion, and according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, will leave “the government spending $598 billion more on health care by 2019.”
• The bill creates many new taxes, including a new 5.4% federal income surtax on “higher income individuals,” one third of which are really small businesses ($461 billion), new taxes on medical devices ($20 billion), a small business transaction tax ($17 billion), an 8% payroll tax on many businesses ($135 billion), and a 2.5% tax on the uninsured ($33 billion), and more.
• The bill does not allow working families to keep their current coverage, despite what politicians claim.
• The bill slashes Medicare by $385 billion. Payments to doctors, hospitals, nursing homes, and home health are reduced. The Medicare Advantage program is gutted; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates similar provisions would cause 64% of enrollees to lose their plans.
• A new government-run health plan will be created. This so-called “public option” will pay doctors less than “market” rates (despite nonsense about negotiating with the government), which will cause insurance premiums to rise and destabilize the insurance market. This cost shift already occurs today due to underpayments of Medicare and Medicaid, and the effect will be intensified by a new government-run plan.
• The bill will increase the deficit by nearly $250 billion. Provisions to change Medicare reimbursement rates (the “doctor fix”) were stripped out of the bill but passed separately, without being offset in the federal budget.
• The pay-or-play mandate on employers will kill jobs, reduce wages and stifle businesses’ growth. All but the smallest employers must provide government-approved benefits or pay a new 8% payroll tax. As a result, 12 million people could be thrust out of employer-sponsored health plans according to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
• The House bill does nothing to curb out-of-control lawsuits that cost the system billions each year. Even worse, the bill punishes states that have taken steps to reduce costs by capping attorney fees.
• The bill fails to provide all Americans with health insurance. Despite spending over $1 trillion, the bill would still leave 18 million people uninsured in 2019 according to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

Tell Congress that the Pelosi Bill is not the reform we need.

We need to stop this 2000-page, $1 trillion wasteful legislation, and write a bill that doesn’t hurt businesses and working families, but helps them. America needs bipartisan health reform that actually lowers costs, provides more access to coverage, and makes the health care system more stable and fair… Not a massive new bureaucracy that threatens coverage for workers and seniors, and moves the country toward government-run health care.
Senate:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has now merged bills passed by multiple committees and unveiled the plan he wants to push through the full Senate. It is estimated that the full 10 year cost of Reid’s bill could be $2.5 trillion.  In addition, Reid’s bill mirrors the House legislation in many ways, including its more than 2,000 pages and plan for government-run health care. Like the House bill, Senator Reid’s bill makes health care more expensive and threatens existing coverage for millions of Americans.

• Increases federal government spending on health care, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
• Could create future deficits. Accounting gimmicks are being used to hide the true cost of the bill, such as assuming $250 billion in “cuts” to doctors that Congress votes each year to rescind.  Adding these costs – and recognizing that government projections for spending on other government-run health programs like Medicare  has traditionally been wildly unrealistic – means that deficits will likely soar.
• Imposes half-trillion-dollars of new taxes that will raise health care costs and includes two taxes similar to the Alternative Minimum Tax that will hit small business owners and middle class families -- a 40% tax on so-called “Cadillac” health plans, and a brand new Medicare payroll tax.
• Includes job-killing employer mandates. The new government health coverage mandate will take $28 billion from struggling small businesses -- driving down wages and costing jobs.
• Cuts Medicare by nearly $500 billion, hurting America’s seniors, who need health care the most.
• Threatens existing, employer-based coverage for millions of Americans. The CBO confirms that millions of Americans will lose their employer-based coverage.
• Creates a government-run health insurance plan. Reid’s bill includes a state “opt-out” scheme that is still government-run health care Regardless of provisions that postpone its creation or allow a state to opt-out, the state’s residents will still be taxed to fund it...
• Includes no meaningful reforms to curb lawsuits that the CBO says could save $50 billion in health costs.
• Even with all this new spending, the Reid bill leaves 24 million Americans without health coverage according to the CBO.