Press Releases

Luetkemeyer: Pelosi's Health Care Bill is Wrong Prescription for American Families

Washington, DC, November 3, 2009
U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-9) agrees that health reform is needed but opposes Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats' government takeover of health care, while at the same time spending money American families just can't afford.
- U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-9) agrees that health reform is needed but opposes Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats’ government takeover of health care, while at the same time spending money American families just can’t afford.
“The Nancy Pelosi health care bill is the wrong prescription for our country,” Luetkemeyer said. “This monstrous piece of legislation is a prescription for tax increases and job loss. Finally, with the government dictating health care terms and choices, we are going to see a lower standard of care for our families.”
Pelosi’s health care bill will cost taxpayers over $1 trillion. In its current form, the bill is 1,990 pages and weighs in at almost 20 pounds. Despite months of town hall meetings at which millions of Americans voiced their opposition to a government takeover of health care, Democrats in Washington didn’t get the message.
The Pelosi health care bill will raise taxes, raise health care costs, add to our national debt and hurt America’s seniors, families and small businesses. According to various studies, millions of Americans could lose their current health insurance under a government-run health care plan. One recent independent study estimated that younger Americans could see their health care premiums triple, and a family of four could see their health care premiums more than double.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has testified before Congress that the Democrats’ health care plan will actually increase health care spending. 
After the reckless spending binge that this Congress has been engaged in this year, the bottom line is that the American taxpayers simply cannot afford the Pelosi health care bill. Since enactment of the so-called stimulus, at a cost of $1.1 trillion including interest, the Majority and the administration have enacted a $410 billion omnibus, a $105.8 billion supplemental, including tens of billions of non-defense spending, and a spending plan for the fiscal year’s regular appropriations process that exceeds $1 trillion for only the second time in U.S. history.
Luetkemeyer supports reforming our health care system but does not support a government takeover of health care. He supports covering pre-existing conditions, allowing Americans to purchase health insurance across state lines, allowing small businesses to pool together and purchase health insurance at lower costs, giving states the tools to create their own innovative reforms that lowers costs and improves access to quality health care, and enacting meaningful tort reform that ends junk lawsuits that contribute to higher health care costs.
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