For the first time in almost two months, I was able to participate in one of Rep. Kevin McCarthy's GOP Whip Team bloggers' call. Since a vote was impending, the call was a bit rushed, so the Californian turned the call over to budget hawk Jim Jordan (R-OH). Regarding health care reform, Jordan hit the nail on the head, by declaring, "Americans, by definition, don't like being told what to do."Of course, over the last few months, President Obama has been doing just that. Gee, I wondering why his approval numbers keep dropping?
Next was Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-MN), who represents a competitive suburban Minneapolis district. He emphasized "the importance of making sure we get health care reform right, by addressing the cost side of the equation, not just the access side."
"And the small business community community," he added, "particularly is being ignored in the current debate."
"I was very alarmed to learn," Paulsen continued, "that the Senate is proposing a $40 billion tax on medical devices. Only in Washington would someone claim you can lower health care costs by taxing it and making it more expensive."
Last to join was Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who filled us in about the amendment to the health care reform bill proposed by Mike Rogers (R-MI).
The Rogers Amendment, according to Blackburn, addresses the issues lack of tort reform, cross-state insurance portability, and verifying citizenship of those who receive government-financed health care. About the GOP's efforts, Blackburn says the party is "addressing health care in a meaningful way, with a meaningful debate, and doing it in a patient-centered, free-market oriented method."
Related post:
Breaking: Rep: Kevin McCarthy says Mark Kirk won't vote for cap and trade if it comes back to House for reconcile
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3 comments:
I've yet to make one of these calls!
They're good, Skye. Every two weeks or so they have one.
Federal Government Health care is not a right and is not constitutional, the Republican Congress in 2003 that decided to subsidize private health insurers under Medicaid Advantage, which costs taxpayers an average of 13 percent more per beneficiary than the government-run program. The same Republican Congress passed the prescription drug benefit add-on to Medicare that President George W. Bush so enthusiastically championed, creating the largest expansion of the welfare state since LBJ’s “Great Society.”
And now the Republicans have announced from the Republican National Committee, a brand new “Health Care Bill of Rights for Seniors.”
Will it ever end.
Prescription Drug Benefit.
The final version (conference report) of H.R. 1 would create a prescription drug benefit for Medicare recipients. Beginning in 2006, prescription coverage would be available to seniors through private insurers for a monthly premium estimated at $35. There would be a $250 annual deductible, then 75 percent of drug costs up to $2,250 would be reimbursed. Drug costs greater than $2,250 would not be covered until out-ofpocket expenses exceeded $3,600, after which 95 percent of drug costs would be reimbursed. Low-income recipients would receive more subsidies than other seniors by paying lower premiums, having smaller deductibles, and making lower co-payments for each prescription. The total cost of the new prescription drug benefit would be limited to the $400 billion that Congress had budgeted earlier this year for the first 10 years of this new entitlement program. The House adopted the conference report on H.R. 1 on November 22, 2003 by a vote of 220 to 215 (Roll Call 669).
Marsha Blackburn Voted FOR this bill.
108-2 (Source: The New American, December 29, 2003)
Marsha Blackburn is my Congressman.
See her unconstitutional votes at :
http://tinyurl.com/qhayna
Mickey
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