Matheson Statement On Health Care Reform Vote

Press Release

Congressman Jim Matheson today released the following statement:

"I am saddened that the year-long debate on health reform has resulted in legislation that is too expensive, contains too many special deals, does not contain health care costs and will result in increases in health insurance premiums and therefore I will vote against the legislation."

"Health care affects every Utahn in different but profoundly important ways. Controlling rising health care costs, increasing quality and value and improving access to health care and to affordable health insurance coverage remains critical to me. But the wrong kind of reform--reform which increases health care costs-- will leave our nation worse off."

"I look at lessons learned from the Massachusetts state health care reform effort. It illustrates what happens when universal coverage is extended without controlling costs: even more patients funneled into a broken system. Insufficient healthcare provider training resulted in too few healthcare providers to treat patients. Even with subsidies from the state, low-income families are not able to afford their health insurance."

"Going forward, I will continue to work in a bipartisan way to fix what is wrong with our health care system, to preserve what is right and to ensure all Utahns have access to the affordable, quality care and coverage they need."

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