Today I am releasing a report: "Dangerous to America's Health, the Republican Plan to Dismantle America's Health Care."
The Affordable Care Act is already providing health coverage to uninsured people with pre-existing conditions and young adults, and lowering drug costs for seniors. In time, it will help millions more. Yet Republicans fought us every step of the way and used every tool - including outright lies -- to try to kill health reform.
The Republicans failed, but they won't give up. Now, they want to refight the battles of the past. Republicans have said that their number one priority next year is to repeal health reform. In fact, a recent poll of rank and file Republicans found that repealing health reform is a more important priority for them than job creation, cutting federal spending, and extending the Bush tax cuts.
Democrats must work to expose how dangerous their agenda would be for America. The report I'm releasing today highlights the negative consequences repeal would have on people's health care now and in the future -- everything from reinstating discrimination against people with preexisting conditions, women, and older individuals; to increasing Medicare fraud and cutting payments to family doctors.
Take a look. The health reform law is making improvements across all sectors of the American health care system, so you may not be aware of the many dangers of repeal. We must be equipped with this information as we prepare to fight Republican efforts to repeal health reform in the coming years.
(Rep. Stark is the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee)
They will argue forever before putting something in its place and probably nothing will ever happen if you leave it to the Republicans.
So many people are already benefitting from this Reform it would be a disaster to repeal.
Shocking!
America is supposed to be a "world leader" - are we calling this title into question today ?
Yes !
If the public liked the HCR and the vocal 'I hate it' are mostly Republicans, it is probably a better deal for the lower classes than the rich.
It seems to me the quality of things can be judged by who is most against it.
While the HCR may not be perfect and adjustments may be necessary, it is far more than the Republicans would offer the lower classes.
That is a red herring. Unfortunately, the reason so many don't pay taxes is that they are TOO POOR!
Tax cuts for the rich are just another mechanism for the transfer of wealth.
So while I have the opportunity to cover my wife, there is NO WAY I can afford it, and I make a pretty decent salary. And what exactly will happen when I am mandated to obtain coverage for my wife? I will go broke and bankrupt. Congress really should have looked at this bill further, and in many cases, should have actually read it before passing it. The Law of Unintended Consequences has trumped The Affordable Care Act, and this really does make it less than affordable.
So the idea of scrapping this debacle indeed does have an appeal to many Americans. Instead of being in such a hurry to pass such a sweeping venture, perhaps you and your colleagues could actually think of how it may affect average Americans. Being able to say you passed historic legislation, even if that legislation is so monumentally flawed, is merely empty rhetoric.
If you are tired of playing defense and would like to play offense for awhile on health care, there are several states that have Democratic governors and Democrats control the state legislatures.
Work within these states for them to put a public health insurance option, open-to-all, on their state exchanges in 2014:
California
Washington
Hawaii
Illinois
Massachusetts
Connecticut
Vermont
Maryland
Delaware
District of Columbia
(West Virginia and Arkansas are controlled by Democrats, but they are of the DLC variety. Rhode Island has an independent governor who might be persuaded on the public option.)
Opening up Medicare as an option for everyone to buy into if they wish is unlikely to occur over the next two years, but we can still take constructive actions at the state level if we focus there and we should.