[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 79 (Thursday, May 21, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1239-E1240]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              INTRODUCTION OF COERCION IS NOT HEALTH CARE

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. RON PAUL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 21, 2009

  Mr. PAUL. Madam Speaker, today I am introducing the Coercion is Not 
Health Care Act. This legislation forbids the Federal Government from 
forcing any American to purchase health insurance, and from 
conditioning participation in any Federal program, or receipt of any 
Federal benefit, on the purchase of health insurance.
  While often marketed as a ``moderate'' compromise between 
nationalized health care and a free market solution, forcing every 
American to purchase a government-approved health insurance plan is a 
back door approach to creating a government-controlled health care 
system.
  If Congress requires individuals to purchase insurance, Congress must 
define what insurance policies satisfy the government mandate. Thus, 
Congress will decide what is and is not covered in the mandatory 
insurance policy. Does anyone seriously doubt that what conditions and 
treatments are covered will be determined by who has the most effective 
lobby. Or that Congress will be incapable of writing a mandatory 
insurance policy that will fit the unique needs of every individual in 
the United States?
  The experience of States that allow their legislatures to mandate 
what benefits health insurance plans must cover has shown that 
politicizing health insurance inevitably makes health insurance more 
expensive. As the cost of government-mandated health insurance rises, 
Congress will likely create yet another fiscally unsustainable 
entitlement program to help cover the cost of insurance.
  When the cost of government-mandated insurance proves to be an 
unsustainable burden on individuals and small employers, and the 
government, Congress will likely impose price controls on medical 
treatments, and even go so far as to limit what procedures and 
treatments will be reimbursed by the mandatory insurance. The result 
will be an increasing number of providers turning to ``cash only'' 
practices, thus making it difficult for those relying on the 
government-mandated insurance to find health care. Anyone who doubts 
that result should consider the increasing number of physicians who are 
withdrawing from the Medicare program because of the low reimbursement 
and constant bureaucratic harassment

[[Page E1240]]

from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
  Madam Speaker, the key to effective health care reform lies not in 
increasing government control, but in increasing the American people's 
ability to make their own health care decisions. Thus, instead of 
forcing Americans to purchase government-approved health insurance, 
Congress should put the American people back in charge of health care 
by expanding health care tax credits and deductions, as well as 
increasing access to Health Savings Accounts. Therefore, I have 
introduced legislation, the Comprehensive Health Care Reform Act (H.R. 
1495), which provides a series of health care tax credits and 
deductions designed to empower patients. I urge my colleagues to reject 
the big government-knows-best approach to health care by cosponsoring 
my Coercion is Not Health Care Act and Comprehensive Health Care Reform 
Act.

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