Castle Statement On H.R. 3962

Statement

Madam Speaker, I rise today because I believe the vast majority of us in Congress are committed to reducing the skyrocketing cost of health care today and expanding access to insurance coverage for those in need.

Additionally, I am certain that if we focused on the many shared bipartisan goals, we could pass a health reform package that took common sense steps without making financial commitments that this country is unable to afford. Such items include:

* Insurance market reforms such as preventing denial of care for pre-existing conditions;
* Purchasing insurance across state lines;
* Encouraging regional exchanges between states and portability;
* Small Business Pooling and Tax Credits;
* Negotiating Drug Prices;
* Eliminating the $60 billion in Medicare fraud each year;
* Rewarding efforts to prevent common disease and illness;
* Enrolling those who qualify into existing programs like Medicaid and SCHIP;
* Tax benefits for needy individuals for help purchasing insurance; and
* Limiting abusive lawsuits.

Instead, we are confronted with a bill that over-reaches by creating new government programs costing over $1 trillion, paid for from tax increases and cuts to Medicare which are more gimmicks than real entitlement reform.

Independent analysis of H.R. 3962 continues to show that reforms will result in higher costs for too many patients in addition to increasing the federal debt which continues to rise dramatically under this Democratic Administration and Congress.

Universal health care will not happen overnight. An incremental approach that expands access to health care coverage, contains costs, and limits government involvement should be at the forefront of lasting and meaningful reform. The process to date has been driven by politics, but it's not too late to enact policies that enjoy broad bipartisan support.

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