House Misses a Significant Opportunity For Health Reform

by Bruce Josten

With the passage of H.R. 3962, the health care bill, the House missed a significant opportunity to advance reasonable and meaningful health reform that fundamentally changes how the health care system operates and changes the overall upward trajectory in spending.  American employers and employees want an improvement in the nation's health care system, not an unsustainable, unaffordable overhaul.

Friday's news that unemployment has reached double digits for the first time in 26 years should have been a wake-up call for those considering job-stifling tax increases and employer mandates included in the House health care bill. Expanding coverage is an imperative; it is also imperative that the nation is moving on a credible and sustainable fiscal path.

Unfortunately, in addition to the massive new tax burdens on individuals and small business owners, the health care reform bill just passed by the House of Representatives fails the crucial test of reducing the soaring cost of health coverage for businesses or individuals. We urge the Senate to listen to the American people and reject the House’s partisan approach to health care.

Comments

[ChamberPost]

Mr. Toth

"provide for" = "common defense"

"promote" = "general Welfare"

BP

[Frank Toth]

It is the Federal Government's duty to provide for the well-being of EVERY citizen of this country, not just the lobbyists & large campaign contributors! And a public option WITHOUT an "opt out" takes a giant step in that direction! I'd rather see my tax dollars go towards this than bailouts to companies that don't deserve or don't really need them!(since they laid off or fired the working class)

[Joseph DuPont]

Dear US Chamber of Commerce,
We can no long afford to pull any punches.
Mandatory Health Insurance at the point of a gun is Un American and unconstitutional.
No one is saying that Obama was only elected because he said that he was against mandatory
health insurance. Everyone is giving him a pass
on the biggest lie ever told. Now this same man will fine me and put me in jail if I don't become his slave. How dare they say that I
will be a drain on society. I have resources.
If I die a few years early because of my
choices I will die as a free men ..not a slave.
Anyone who trusts mainstream medicine is a fool. I say we all fly our flags at half mast or upside down until we ride the concept of mandatory health insurance.

[Linda]

I am so disgusted watching your million dollar hit job on Rep. Baron Hill. You are nothing but an arm of the Republican party. Your representive came into my shop this summer asking for money to represent me in Washington as a small business. Is this what you used the money for? Shame on you! Take that commercial down!!!!!

[Gordon]

If I were reading the New York Times or Huffington Post, I would understand if the majority of posters lacked a basic understanding of business management or accounting - but this the Chamber of Commerce website for crying out loud.

Dave D, the health care bill is NOT designed to be "revenue neutral." Both revenue (ie, taxes) and expenses (ie, spending) will increase...dramatically. That's the whole point of it.

Maybe you meant to say "deficit-neutral." But you base that assumption on the CBO estimate - and the CBO is notorious for underestimating costs. So this bill will very likely pile hundreds of billions onto our national debt.

Joe, you state that the "majority" of health care premiums go to the insurance companies' profits. That would mean at least a 51% profit margin, right? Not quite...try closer to 6% historically, and about 2% last year. It turns out that health insurance is one of the least profitable businesses in America. See http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091025/ap_on_go_co/us_fact_check_health_insurance.

My advice is to stop listening to Nancy Pelosi.

[Dave D]

I'm appalled at the USCC's unconscionable
attack on Rep. Paul Hodes [D-NH] for his
vote for HR3962. Your ad is filled with
complete untruths and innuendoes--including
the 'trillion-dollar' cost of the bill.
The bill is designed to be revenue-neutral,
and the [non-partisan] Congressional Budget
Office estimates a $109B REDUCTION in the
Federal defecit from this bill.

I assume you are targeting Representatives
around the country with this foolish and
misleading invective. It's about time you
got your figures straight and ended your
self-serving attack on Main Street citizens
and their genuine need for health care reform.

[Terry]

As a Chamber member in a small town in Connecticut, I am furious to learn today that the Chamber spent $270,000 on an attack ad against members of Congress who voted for the health care bill. You do not speak for me. We need health care reform. Stay out of politics with my dues.

[Raanan Geberer]

This organization has it completely wrong. American families, covered or not, spend a greater and greater percentage of their money on healthcare and have to cut back on all sorts of other things. Once there's some sort of government support for healthcare, those people will have more money to spend, and will spend it on goods and services -- which is what the U.S. Chamber of Commerce should want.

[Judy]

The government taking over health care is not going to make it cheaper, or more efficient. This has been PROVEN in England, Canada and Maine – yet it is ignored.

As I understand, only 44 million people are uninsured anyway. Since there are 303 million Americans, that’s only 14.5%. Many of these CHOOSE not to have health care, in effect, saying they have greater priorities for their money. This is a free country, and they should be allowed to make that decision. Social Security is bankrupt, and so is Medicare. We need less of this, not more.

46 cents of every dollar the government spends is borrowed. We owe $12,000,000,000,000.00 – Isn’t that enough?

Make no mistake, the average person WILL pay for this. They will have to accept lower salaries, no raises for a long time, a cut in other benefits, higher prices for everything they buy, etc. etc.

Everyone will pay. So everyone should be more than concerned.

The solution to health care is to introduce discretion and competition in to the market. The government program does not do this. Instead of making all employers pay for health care for their employees (which may have been one idea in the days of big corporations who employed everyone and you worked there for 50 years and retired there), it does not work in the age of small and micro businesses (The only companies creating jobs) where people are highly mobile and may work and many different companies in the course of a decade. We must do the opposite. Forbid employers to offer health insurance.

Make everyone pay it on their own. If insured or partially insured now, companies can give them the cash instead.

Now, the American consumer will employ discretion and competition – which will solve the whole problem like magic! Affordable solutions will appear from nowhere. (i.e. One group of doctors charge their patients $79 a month and say they can cover 90% of their needs. No other fees at all.)

So you see, there is solutions, but not with the government. As a small business owner I urge you to not support any government run health care bill. If this passes, business owners, employees and the country will suffer!

[Joe]

The US Chamber of Commerce clearly DOESN'T represent small business or individual enterpreneurs....they are clearly the supporters of the enormous greedy health insurance behemoths. Because it is small business that suffers in our current system...a health insurance industry that takes 30% of the enormous national health care bill for their profits and "overhead". And what you may not realize, is your money is already being used to cover the uninsured. But rather than coming out of rationally and fairly distributed through taxes, it's taken out of your insurance premiums. And before some of that premium goes to your own health and the health care of the uninsured, the majority of it goes to health insurers profits.

Cut out the health insurers, and you suddenly save tons of money that can be used to get the uninsured basic preventative care, which is cheaper than the emergency room care that they're currently getting. But of course, the US Chamber of Commerce and Big Insurance don't want you to know that...they want you to keep paying the ruthless middle man, who cares for nothing but his own profits.

[hair salon london]

After a long time..a meaningful health care reform has been passed...Americans must have an affordable health care system.

[Lydia Helmsworth]

Some of us are, without a doubt, numbed out.
Change is: to be rid of insurance companies, then give Americans what they deserve. Embarrassed in comparison to other countries; Americans must have an affordable health care system.
If you survived G. Bush, you can survive a health care system run by the government. Check it out: Medicare covers millions of people. Do you call that socialism? We're all in this together.
Schools are government run. Socialism?

You health insurance? I don't. And, millions of others don't either. Are you so special?
Without health care, we wait for the ball to drop. One doctor visit can cost (CA) $300 for 15-minutes. If you need a test, a prescription; do the math!
As for taxes: nothing is for nothing.

Get past the political numb skull thinking.
Be good to your fellow Americans and help us get coverage.

[Grant]

Given your interest, you might want to check out the http://www.lastingliberty.com/ piece on the healthcare debate : Bigger Than Healthcare

[Ryan]

Flood your elected official's office people. If it's passed it can be undone. Most people underestimate the power of the word, the power of the people. They underestimate their own power.