Ranking Republican Cole: "This is one-size-fits-all, government-run health care"

Press Release

At the conclusion of today's hearing in the House Rules Committee, Ranking Republican Tom Cole (OK-04) made remarks on H.R. 1384, the Medicare for All Act of 2019.

During his remarks, Cole pointed out the issue of cost for the one-size-fits-all, government-run health plan proposed by the Democrats:

We heard all about the majority's highest priority this Congress, which is -- in my view -- putting everyone on a one-size-fits-all government-run health plan that will double everyone's taxes, eliminate choice and put Medicare at risk.

It'll take plans away from 173 million Americans and give them something they may or may not want and something they may or may not be willing to pay for.

As we heard from Dr. Blahous, Medicare for All would cost a staggering amount -- more than $32 trillion dollars over 10 years. It's worth thinking about that. The current federal budget annually is about $4.5 trillion. This would make it immediately $7.7 trillion. The legislation has not proposed any way to pay for that, but Dr. Blahous told us that even if you doubled everybody's taxes and doubled the corporate tax rate, that still wouldn't cover these costs.

Cole also expressed concern about the already at-risk Medicare program:

Most disturbingly, I think today's hearing made clear that Medicare for All would put the current Medicare system at risk. If we force doctors and hospitals to take lower payments, we run the risk of pushing them out of the industry entirely, thus making it impossible for current Medicare beneficiaries -- who paid into this program for a lifetime -- to receive health care. In my home district, rural hospitals rely on higher reimbursement rates from private insurance to offset the lower reimbursement rates from Medicare patients. If these hospitals were to only be reimbursed at Medicare rates, most of them quite frankly would close.

Cole concluded his remarks by pointing out the last time Democrats pushed for an overhaul of the healthcare system through passage of Obamacare:

Though I think the Democrats' Medicare for All proposal is an extreme one, I would remind the majority that Republicans are committed to working together to improve the system we currently have, and to build on and improve what works, and ensure that every American gets the quality of care that they deserve.

And while it's always fashionable to want to do a once-and-for-all comprehensive bill, we went through that with the ACA. And with all due respect to my friends, I heard phrases like "if you like the doctor you have, you can keep your doctor' or "if you like the plan you have, you can keep it.' And finally, "your insurance payments are going to decline by $2,500.' None of those things happened.

So count me as skeptical that a new one-size-fits-all system will achieve the objectives that its advocates have laid out with such optimism and such hope.

Again, it's worth discussing for sure. I would hope in the meantime though, we do what everybody here agreed we ought to do in addition to looking at this -- which I have no objection to. That we actually focus on smaller steps that we know can become law. That we know can actually happen. I look forward to working with my good friends on the other side of aisle and certainly with you, Mr. Chairman, to make sure we can do something that matters in the weeks and months ahead and makes a big difference.

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