Thought some of you might be interested in the response I got from Geof Davis 4th Dist Congressman in Ky about the healthcare bill =

DEPUTY REPUBLICAN WHIP

WASHINGTON, D.C. OFFICE:
1108 Longworth HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: (202) 225-3465
Fax: (202) 225-0003




CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20515 COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS
Subcommittee on Trade
Subscommittee on Select Revenue Measures

NATIONAL SECURITY INTERAGENCY GROUP
Co-Chairman

WWW.GEOFFDAVIS.HOUSE.GOV
Dear Mr. Pennington:

Thank you for sharing your thoughts about health care reform. I appreciate the opportunity to provide you with an update on Congress' progress on this important issue.

On Saturday, November 7, 2009, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, by a vote of 220 to 215. I joined 175 Republicans and 39 Democrats in voting against this bill. You can watch my comments on the House floor during debate on H.R. 3962 by visiting my YouTube page at http://www.youtube.com/user/CongressmanDavis.

H.R. 3962 could cut Medicare by half a trillion dollars; create 118 new agencies, boards and programs; and raise taxes by over $730 billion. The expansive provisions included in H.R. 3962 will affect the entire American health care system, which comprises one-sixth of our nation's economy. The 1,990 page bill creates an enormous new health care bureaucracy that will expand the government's role in health care decision-making by families and doctors. The bill also creates a government-regulated public option that I believe could eventually force private insurers out of business and put the U.S. on a path to a single-payer, government-regulated health care system.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that H.R. 3962 will cost $1.3 trillion. To pay for its overwhelming cost, H.R. 3962 includes $732.5 billion in tax increases. I anticipate that these tax increases will affect every American, including families making $250,000 or less, small businesses, people who are unable to afford insurance, and businesses that want to hire new workers. Americans who do not obtain "acceptable health insurance coverage" must pay a 2.5% tax. The non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation has confirmed that failure to pay this tax could result in criminal fines of up to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to five years.

At a time when the national unemployment rate has reached a twenty-six year high, H.R. 3962 could further slow job growth in the U.S. thanks to a new $135 billion employer mandate tax ("play or pay") and a $150 billion small business surtax. These tax increases could cause more than 5.5 million Americans to lose their jobs, according to a model developed by President Barack Obama's own economic advisor, Dr. Christina Romer.

H.R. 3962 also could cut Medicare by more than half a trillion dollars over the next ten years, including over $150 billion from the Medicare Advantage program. CBO estimates that H.R. 3962 could result in six million seniors being denied access to Medicare Advantage as a result of this bill. Over 18,600 seniors in Kentucky's Fourth District alone currently have Medicare Advantage plans. The bill could also cause premiums for seniors in the Medicare prescription drug program (Part D) to increase by at least twenty percent.

In addition, H.R. 3962 fails to include adequate verification of citizenship status. CBO estimates that 2.5 million more illegal immigrants could receive taxpayer-subsidized health insurance under H.R. 3962 (as opposed to the Majority's previous health care reform legislation, H.R. 3200).

There are better solutions. My Republican colleagues and I knew we could craft fiscally responsible health care legislation to fix what is broken in our health care system while preserving aspects of the system that work, and that is exactly what we did in H.R. 4038, the Common Sense Health Care Reform and Affordability Act. H.R. 4038 was offered as a substitute amendment to H.R. 3962 by Republican Leader John Boehner [OH-08]. It unfortunately failed by a vote of 176 to 258.

H.R. 4038 focuses on reducing premium costs for all Americans to make health insurance more affordable and accessible. Under our plan, insurance premiums will be about $5,000 less expensive than the cheapest health insurance plan available under H.R. 3962.

CBO estimates that our 219-page bill costs $61 billion and will reduce the deficit by $68 billion over ten years, for a net savings of $7 billion. Unlike H.R. 3962, H.R. 4038 does not make any cuts to Medicare and does not raise taxes.

H.R. 4038 would increase access to health care coverage, reduce costs for all Americans and save the taxpayers' money. CBO has projected that H.R. 4038 would reduce private health care insurance premiums for all purchasers by as much as ten percent.

In addition, H.R. 4038 would:

-Establish Universal Access Programs to guarantee access to affordable health care coverage for those with pre-existing conditions;
-Reward State innovation by providing incentive payments to States that reduce premiums and the number of uninsured;
-Encourage pooling through small business and association health plans;
-Allow Americans to buy insurance across State lines;
-Institute real medical liability reform to end junk lawsuits and reduce the practice of defensive medicine;
-Prohibit insurance companies from unjustly cancelling coverage or instituting lifetime spending caps;
-Allow dependents to remain on their parents' policies through age twenty-five; and
-Promote healthier lifestyles by giving employers greater flexibility to financially reward employees who adopt healthier lifestyles.

On Christmas Eve, the Senate passed its version of health care reform (H.R. 3590) by a vote of 60-39. However, the debate over health care is not over. The House- and Senate-passed versions of health care reform must now be merged into one bill by resolving the substantial differences between the two approaches.

You can read all the bills and summary information by visiting my website at http://GeoffDavis.house.gov and clicking on the "Read the bills" button.

Your input is very important and valuable as the debate continues. Please continue to communicate your thoughts with me by calling (859) 426-0080 or by e-mailing me at http://www.GeoffDavis.house.gov/Contact. You can also express your views on health care by taking the health care survey on my website by going to http://www.GeoffDavis.house.gov and clicking on the "Take Geoff's Survey" button.

In addition, you can sign up to participate in an upcoming telephone town hall meeting through my website or by calling any of the Fourth District offices. These free calls allow you to join in a conversation with me and your neighbors to discuss issues before Congress. If you would like to participate, please visit http://www.GeoffDavis.house.gov/TTH and fill out the form.

Please do not hesitate to call me at (859) 426-0080 if I can be of further assistance. You can also sign up to receive our weekly e-mail newsletter to stay up-to-date on what is going on in Congress and in the Fourth District by visiting http://www.GeoffDavis.house.gov/Contact/EmailSignup.htm.

Sincerely,

Geoff Davis
Member of Congress