Tim Walberg On The Health Care

[Sonja M Gleason]

Yesterday, I made the following comments on the House Democrats' Latest Health Care Bill (1,990 pages):

"It's a shame that Nancy Pelosi and Mark Schauer continue pushing a government takeover of health care that will cost trillions, raise taxes, and result in millions of people losing access to their existing coverage, and citizens need to make their voices heard. If Mark Schauer would have held town hall meetings to listen to his constituents, he would have discovered they oppose his trillion dollar deficits and his government takeover of health care, and want common sense solutions such as curbing lawsuit abuse and helping small businesses afford patient-centered health insurance for their employees."

Additional information on health care and government spending:

Information on Democrats' Latest Health Care Bill, from Oct. 29, 2009 Politico article "Nancy Pelosi starts clock on House health bill":

· Cost is $894 billion over 10 years, however, "Pelosi's decision to strip a $245 billion package of doctors' payments also threatens to anger party moderates. The so-called "docs' fix," which would fill a long-standing shortfall under Medicare reimbursement rates, would put the overall cost of the bill well over $1 trillion and create more than $200 billion in red ink for the federal government over the next 10 years"

· "the legislation is projected to create deficits over the second five years, a fact that should give budget hawks plenty to worry about"

· "It imposes a 2.5 percent tax on medical device manufacturers"

· Includes "government-run insurance vehicle"



My ideas to make health care more affordable and patient-centered include:

· cutting down on frivolous lawsuits that are driving up costs for hospitals and physicians,

· allowing small businesses to join together to purchase quality health insurance for their employees,

· allowing the purchase of health insurance across state lines to greatly increase the size of the health insurance market and provide more options,

· letting individuals receive the same tax treatment as corporations when purchasing health insurance (corporations can deduct, but individuals cannot),

· expanding the use of Medical Savings Accounts (MSA) by allowing premiums for high deductible plans to be paid from money in the MSAs,

· providing low and middle-income families with health care tax credits so they can purchase patient-centered health insurance for their children.



Mark Schauer supports government-run health care.

· ``I'd prefer it not be tied to some kind of trigger,'' Schauer said. ``I'd rather it be a straight-out public option.'' [Jackson Citizen Patriot 10-28-09]

· Mark Schauer supports government-run health care, the "public health insurance option." [Battle Creek Enquirer 8-23-09]

· Obama's political operation, Organizing for America, said Mark Schauer supports the President's health care reform plan. [Ann Arbor Chronicle 8-3-09]



Mark Schauer voted for massive federal government spending increases.

· Voted for the $800 billion spending "stimulus" package. [Roll Call Vote 46 on 1-28-09]

· Voted for the $410 billion omnibus appropriations bill that increased spending by 8.4%, included over 8,000 earmarks, and raised spending for the operation of Congress by 11%. [Roll Call Vote 86 on 2-25-09]

· Voted for Speaker Pelosi's Budget that increases the national debt by $5.3 trillion over the next five years. Roll Call Vote 192 on [4-2-09]

Thank you for your time and support. If you have friends who may want to receive these updates, please forward to them, or encourage them to sign up on my website, www.walbergforcongress.com.


Thank you,



Tim