[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 53 (Thursday, May 5, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 5, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
              EMPLOYERS WILL PAY FOR HEALTH CARE MANDATES

  (Mr. CASTLE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, many of us are concerned about the proposed 
mandate on our businesses to provide a comprehensive benefits package. 
Employers are being mandated to float money into the system only to 
create a bigger system, a system we cannot afford.
  Many of us are concerned about job loss, and projections range from 
600,000 to 3 million. Jobs should not be sacrificed to furnish a health 
care reform proposal that will far exceed its estimated costs.
  We can easily look into the future of employer mandates by looking at 
another Government-run health care program: Medicaid. In 1966, combined 
Federal and State Medicaid payments were $1.7 billion. In 1992, they 
were $119 billion. No one came close in predicting the costs of this 
program.
  No jobs were directly eliminated to cover the program's costs, but 
the extensive benefits packages put an expensive burden on our States 
and Federal budgets.
  Under the President's plan, our employers are the payers, and they 
will pay in more ways than laying off jobs. They will pay every time 
Congress decides to ratchet up the comprehensive benefits package and 
the employer contribution.
  President Clinton pledged to end welfare as we know it, not end 
health care as we know it.
  We need to reform our health care system, but when enacting mandates, 
we must remember that employers, not just government, will be picking 
up the tab.

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