The Obama/Pelosi/Reid healthcare plan being debated right now on Capitol Hill
may be the single most dangerous piece of legislation I have seen in my 35
years in Washington, and we urgently need your help today to STOP it!
Please, before you do anything else, tell your U.S. Representative and Senators
that you OPPOSE the absolutely unaffordable government takeover of healthcare
being pushed right now by President Obama and Democratic leaders of Congress.
The Obama/Pelosi/Reid healthcare plan poses a fundamental threat not only to
our nation’s and your own financial health and prosperity, but to every
American’s individual liberties and right to free choice.
This healthcare plan will cost our country at a minimum $1 trillion when the
federal deficit stands at an all-time record and the national debt is projected
to nearly double over the next 10 years.
President Obama has said that his healthcare “reform” will not add to the
deficit over the next decade and will cut costs in the long run, but the
nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office recently testified before the Senate
Budget Committee that “we do not see the sort of fundamental changes that would
be necessary to reduce the trajectory of health spending by a significant
amount. And on the contrary, the legislation significantly expands the federal
responsibility for healthcare costs.”
What’s more, the healthcare legislation being debated in the House and Senate
would inflict a whole host of new taxes and costly mandates on individuals and
businesses as American families struggle to make ends meet and unemployment
approaches double digits in the midst of our economic recession.
As just one example, the House bill would impose a tax equal to 8 percent of a
business’ total payroll costs if the business cannot afford to purchase
coverage for its employees. Even worse, beginning in 2018, the bill would also
tax businesses whose employees decline employer-provided insurance and opt
instead for government-sanctioned coverage. According to Council of Economic
Advisors Chair Christina Romer, this employer tax would destroy 4.7 million
jobs.
And I can’t believe I’m saying this, FRED, but the financial burden of this
healthcare plan to our government and the costs to American businesses,
taxpayers, and our economy aren’t even the worst of it.
The most dangerous part of the Obama/Pelosi/Reid healthcare “reform” is that it
paves the way to a complete government takeover of healthcare in this country
that will dramatically expand the size of government; allow bureaucrats and
politicians to dictate your choice of doctors, treatments, and medicines; and
ration quality care to control costs.
President Obama has repeatedly vowed that "if you like your health plan, you
can keep it,” but the government health insurance option that President Obama,
Democratic leaders, and their pro-socialized medicine backers insist on would
gradually undermine private insurance by undercutting its costs. A study by
The Lewin Group, a respected economics consulting firm, estimates that 83.4
million Americans would lose the private coverage they have today if the
healthcare plan under consideration in the House becomes law.
And if you’re still not convinced that the real goal of the Obama/Pelosi/Reid
legislation is to force all Americans into a one-size-fits-all, government-run
and rationed healthcare system, look no further than page 16 of the House
bill. Under "Limitation On New Enrollment," the bill states: "Except as
provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering
such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first
effective date of coverage is on or after the first day" of the year the
legislation becomes law.
In other words, once the Obama/Pelosi/Reid healthcare regime takes effect, you
can keep your existing plan, but if your employer stops offering healthcare
coverage or if you are privately insured and your insurer cancels your
coverage, you are no longer free to buy new coverage from a private insurance
company on the open market.
As Investor’s Business Daily editorialized on July 15, “…the bill itself will
kill the market for private individual coverage by not letting any new policies
be written after the public option becomes law.”
Private insurance will just dwindle away, leaving only one option -- the
government -- for healthcare coverage. And when that happens, you and I and
all Americans will have no choice but to live under the mandates, restrictions,
and rationing that federal bureaucrats and politicians in Washington will
impose to curb costs.
FRED, that’s why it’s so vitally important that you tell your U.S.
Representative and Senators today that you oppose the Obama/Pelosi/Reid
healthcare plan now before Congress.
Public opinion polls are showing that support for President Obama’s healthcare
policies is slipping, and more and more Democrats in Congress are getting cold
feet about the cost and sheer size of the Obama/Pelosi/Reid legislation. But
to put the final nail in the coffin of this bloated, misguided plan, your
elected officials need to hear from you today!
There are other options to expand coverage for the uninsured and drive down
healthcare costs, like providing tax credits for individuals who purchase
private insurance and enacting tort reform to reduce expensive and frivolous
malpractice lawsuits.
But the crafters of the Obama/Pelosi/Reid plan aren’t interested in those and
other free-market healthcare reforms. Their goal is clear: to put all
Americans under a single-payer, government-run healthcare system, like those in
Canada and Great Britain, that will dictate our choice of doctors, treatments,
and medicines and ration the care we can receive.
Please urge your elected officials today to vote NO on this costly and
dangerous government takeover of healthcare.
Sincerely,
Thomas A. Schatz
President
P.S. The healthcare bill now before the House of Representatives provides for
the creation, expansion, and extension of 33 entitlement programs and the
implementation of an additional 53 offices, bureaus, commissions, and
programs. This dramatic expansion of the federal healthcare bureaucracy comes
at a time when Medicare is projected to go bankrupt in just seven-and-a-half
years! Please tell your U.S. Representative and Senators that America cannot
afford the Obama/Pelosi/Reid version of healthcare “reform.”
***
The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) is the lobbying arm
of Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), the nation's largest taxpayer
watchdog organization with more than one million members and supporters
nationwide. CCAGW is a 501(c)(4) nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that
lobbies for legislation to eliminate waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in
government. Contributions to CCAGW are not tax-deductible for federal income
tax purposes. For more information about CCAGW, visit www.ccagw.org. Make a
contribution today to help CCAGW wage and win this battle against the
Obama/Pelosi/Reid healthcare "reform" legislation.
To win the battle against this disastrous healthcare legislation, our elected
representatives need to hear from as many Americans as possible. Please help
us by forwarding this message to your friends and neighbors.
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