Democrats Expand Socialized Medicine, Increase Health Care Costs and Reject Choice
Press Release
Democrats Expand Socialized Medicine, Increase Health Care Costs and Reject Choice
Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) made the following statement after the Democrat-controlled Senate passed a massive expansion of government-controlled healthcare late Thursday and rejected the Health Care Choice Amendment.
"Every American should have access to affordable private health insurance, but last night we took a big step toward socialized medicine," said Senator DeMint. "For some reason, Democrats oppose giving people choices in a nation-wide market that would reduce the costs of insurance and lower the number of uninsured. Republicans believe its time to cut the red tape that's pricing millions of Americans out of the health insurance market."
The Health Care Choice Amendment would have reformed the health insurance market by allowing individuals and families who reside in one state to buy a more affordable health insurance plan from another state. State health insurance mandates are driving up the cost of coverage for millions of Americans. In 1965, there were only seven state health insurance benefit mandates. Today, there are more than 1,800. In some places, this has helped create a market where rates can be as much as 75 percent higher in neighboring states. For example, in New Jersey the average cost for a single person to buy health insurance is over $3,300 a year. Right across the river in Pennsylvania, the average is less than $1,700 a year. This amendment would have given consumers the option of buying the health insurance that meets their needs and is right for them.
"Congress should focus on free-market solutions that lower prices and improve quality, patient-centered care. I support reauthorizing SCHIP to help children in low-income families, but the bill the Democrats passed is an attempt to sneak socialized Hillary-Care in the backdoor. We should increase Americans' freedom to control their own health decisions instead of forcing them into dependence on a government single-payer system that will force higher taxes."
The Democrat bill to expand socialized medicine would:
Spend additional $112 billion in taxpayer dollars over ten years;
Extend benefits to families at 400% of the federal poverty level ($82,600 for a family of four);
Allow states to continue enrolling adults (some states currently enroll more adults than children);
Remove 2 million people from private health care coverage;
Increase tax on cigarettes, disproportionally falling on Americans at or below the poverty level.
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