Time for Congress to Start Fresh in a Bipartisan Manner on Health Care

Press Release

Democrats offer same partisan ideas of 2009 that the public has rejected since August

As Congress revives the debate over health care reform, Adam Kinzinger, Republican nominee for U.S. Congress, today called on members of Congress to listen to what the people have been saying across the nation since last August and reconfirmed by the voters in New Jersey, Virginia and Massachusetts: Scrap the rejected partisan ideas of 2009 and start fresh in a bipartisan manner.

"The American people have had a consistent message of opposing Democrat's ideas for health care reform," said Kinzinger. "To double down on the same partisan ideas that were rejected by the American people shows that our leaders in Washington are out of touch with the people back in their districts."

Kinzinger offered his guiding principles on what health care reform should entail:

1) Allowing Americans to buy insurance across state lines: Americans should be allowed to shop for their health care coverage across state lines to ensure the best price through competition --an idea with no need for additional government spending;

2) Enacting Tort Reform to stop the practice of defensive medicine: By ending junk lawsuits and the practice of defensive medicine, an estimated $54 billion is saved by enacting medical liability reforms;

3) Pre-existing condition protection: Support measures that would make it illegal to: deny coverage for pre-existing conditions, institute annual or lifetime spending limits and canceling a policy on an individual/family (unless fraud is knowingly committed). We also need to support measures that allow affordable health care coverage to those currently without insurance with pre-existing conditions;

4) Associations and small businesses to band together: Just as corporations and labor unions do, small businesses and associations should be allowed to pool together to obtain larger health premium discounts from major health insurers. This will be a good boost for people in small businesses or self employed people in obtaining affordable health coverage;

5) Full Federal tax deductibility for qualified medical expenses: Qualified medical expenses would include premiums, out-of-pocket spending, deductibles and co-payments;

6) Lowering premiums for healthy lifestyles: Companies are currently banned from offering more than a 20% discount for healthy lifestyles. We should encourage healthy lifestyles by lifting federal regulations on the maximum discount allowed by companies;

7) Oppose cuts in Medicare: I cannot support any health care reform package (as the Democrat House and Senate plans had) that calls for cuts in seniors' Medicare benefits;

8) No government public option: Government has never been a valid solution to solve a problem and that goes for a government takeover of health care. The American people are overwhelmingly against this measure and the Democrat Congress should move on from implementing this idea and

9) Prohibit abortion funding; I cannot support a bill that provides federal funds from being used to pay for abortions.

"We need to carefully address our national health care crisis," Kinzinger stated. "Americans have spoken and want Congress to put aside their partisan behavior by focusing on measureable steps that both parties can agree on. To do anything less, is a disservice to the people of their district and to those that lack affordable health care coverage."
Earlier this week, Democrats unveiled a plan largely based on the U.S. Senate's legislation last year calling for the same type of tax increases, government spending and cuts in Medicare that are hurtful to small businesses, middle class Americans and seniors.
Newspapers across the country have called the "revised" Democrat plan the same old problems of past plans mixed with partisanship, higher taxes and increased deficits.

"The White House shows it has no interest in compromise."
-- The Wall Street Journal, 2/22/10

"White House officials said the total cost of the plan would be around $950 billion over the next decade, offset with a mix of new taxes and cuts in federal Medicare spending."
-- Chicago Tribune, 2/22/10

"This bill may be deficit-neutral on paper. But it has just become a fiscal time bomb."
-- New York Times, 2/23/10

Under the "revised" Democrat's plan, the New York Times reports that small businesses with more than 50 full-time employees will pay a fine of $42,000 if they do not offer acceptable health care coverage and $140,000 fine for businesses with 100 full-time employees (What Obama's New Health Care Plan Means for Small Business, New York Times, February 22, 2010). Small businesses are already operating on a razor thin profit margin and the government is forcing them with additional costs making it difficult for them to be engines for job growth in America.

"Congress must remember this is a government for the people and by the people," Kinzinger added. "If they continue down this partisan path, the arrogance of power shown by Speaker Pelosi and her loyal army of followers will not be tolerated by the people come November. This is not a Republican issue or a Democrat issue. It's an issue about taking our government back and doing the work that the people sent them to do."

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