Linda Opposes The Baucus Bill
It is clear that our nation’s health care system needs reform, but I oppose the bill passed by the Senate Finance Committee yesterday because it fails to achieve cost saving goals and it raises health care costs on American families.
Real reform must achieve savings through cost cutting, but the Baucus bill does not incorporate any restrictions on frivolous law suits, which are at the heart of skyrocketing health care costs. The Congressional Budget Office says tort reform could save $54 billion over the next ten years. Instead, the bill cuts costs by shifting $404 billion out of Medicare. I oppose eliminating benefits on seniors, particularly during a recession.
Rather than making health care more affordable, the Baucus legislation imposes billions of dollars in higher costs on American families. A study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that by 2019, the typical American family could be paying $4,000 more than projected if the Baucus health care bill is enacted. That means the average family will pay $25,900 per year for insurance under the plan. This is an unacceptable burden for Congress to impose. I believe one of the primary goals in reforming health care needs to be lowering costs for families.
I am committed to reforming health care. A key goal needs to be expanding coverage, but I cannot support a bill that strips Medicare benefits from seniors while failing to adopt common sense cost controls.