[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 127 (Thursday, September 10, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H9414-H9415]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           HEALTH CARE REFORM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, the President said last night, 
and I mentioned it a few minutes ago, that if anybody in this body told 
an untruth about his proposals on health care he was going to call them 
out. Well, as I said before, that's a double-edged sword because I 
think the President made a number of misstatements last night that need 
to be corrected. And the American people need to know what they were. 
As a matter of fact, one of the things he needs to do is he needs to 
take on the Associated Press because they have a news article out today 
that says Obama uses iffy math on deficit pledge, and they point out 
that his arithmetic isn't quite accurate.
  But let me go into some of the specifics. He said last night, 
``Nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the 
coverage or the doctor you have.'' Let me repeat this: nothing in our 
plan requires you to change what you have. The majority leader just a 
few minutes ago said we really need to keep the public option in, and 
that's what they would like to bring to the floor.
  Well, let's say they do that. If you're an employer, and it costs 
more than 8 percent to take care of your employees and health 
insurance, you can dump them on the government plan for 8 percent. So 
if you're spending 10 percent to pay for your employees' health 
insurance and you want to cut your costs, all you have to do is put 
them on the government plan and pay 8 percent.
  And so there is an inducement for people to go on the government 
plan, especially if the employer's transferring them. And as a matter 
of fact, independent experts all agree that the legislation proposed 
would result in millions of Americans losing the coverage they have. 
The Congressional Budget Office, this body right here, this budget 
office, believes several million will lose their coverage. The Urban 
Institute says it will be up to 47 million, and the Lewin Group says it 
will be up to 114 million.
  So I would say, Mr. President, that's not quite accurate. He also 
said, ``Under my plan, individuals will be required to carry basic 
health insurance just as most States require you to carry auto 
insurance.'' That is going to be what they call a government mandate. 
And one of his senior Obama administration officials recently wrote 
that a mandate is, in many respects, analogous to a tax and, 
furthermore, has the potential to be a very regressive tax, penalizing 
uninsured people who genuinely cannot afford to buy coverage.
  Thus, this policy stance breaks the signal promise of the Obama 
campaign when he said, I can make a firm pledge, under my plan no 
family making less than 250,000 a year will see any form of tax 
increase, not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital 
gains tax, not any of your taxes.
  Not accurate. The President said, ``There are those who claim that 
our reform effort will insure illegal aliens or immigrants. This too is 
false. The reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here 
illegally.'' Look at H.R. 3200, their bill. It says, nothing in any of 
the Democrat bills would require individuals to verify their 
citizenship or identity prior to receiving taxpayer subsidized 
benefits, making the President's promise one that the legislation 
itself does not keep. So that wasn't accurate, Mr. President.
  And here's another quote and one more misunderstanding I want to 
clear up: ``Under our plan, no Federal dollars will be used to fund 
abortions and Federal conscience laws remain in place.'' Fact: the 
National Right to Life Committee, among another independent pro-life 
groups, have confirmed that the legislation will result in Federal 
funds being used to pay for abortions, both through the government-run 
health plan and through Federal subsidies provided through the 
exchange, despite various accounting gimmicks created in an Energy and 
Commerce Committee ``compromise plan.'' Much of the rest would be paid 
for with revenues from the very same drug and insurance companies that 
stand to benefit from tens of millions of new customers.
  The President said reducing the waste and inefficiency in Medicare 
and Medicaid will pay for most of this plan. Much of the rest would be 
paid for with revenues from the very same drug and insurance companies 
that stand to benefit from tens of millions of new customers. Fact: the 
Congressional Budget Office, our body, has previously found that the 
cuts to Medicare Advantage plans included in the Democrat legislation 
would result in millions of seniors, millions of seniors, losing their 
current plan, a direct contradiction of the President's assertion that 
nothing in this plan requires you to change what you have.

                              {time}  1300

  So that's not quite true. It's not true at all.
  The President last night:
  This reform will charge insurance companies a fee for their most 
expensive policies, which will encourage them to provide greater value 
for the money, an idea which has the support of Democrat and Republican 
experts, and according to these same experts, this modest change could 
help hold down the cost of health care for all of us in the long run.
  Fact: While some Republicans support addressing the current employee 
exclusion for health insurance in the context of overall tax reform, 
the President's proposal would raise fees in order to finance new 
Federal spending--a tax increase of hundreds of billions of dollars and 
one that most of us on the Republican side would never support.
  Fact: You can keep your current insurance. However if it costs your 
employer more than 8 percent for your health coverage he would consider 
paying 8 percent and put you on a government plan.
  Quote: ``Nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to 
change the coverage or the doctor you have. Let me repeat this: nothing 
in our plan requires you to change what you have.''
  Fact: Independent experts all agree that the legislation proposed 
would result in millions of Americans losing the coverage they have--
the Congressional Budget Office believes several million, the Urban 
Institute up to 47 million, and the Lewin Group as many as 114 million.
  Quote: ``Under my plan, individuals will be required to carry basic 
health insurance--just as most states require you to carry auto 
insurance.''
  Fact: Senior Obama Administration official Sherry Glied has 
previously written that a mandate ``is in many respects analogous to a 
tax''--and furthermore has the potential to be a ``very regressive tax, 
penalizing uninsured people who genuinely cannot afford to buy 
coverage.'' Thus this policy stance breaks the signal promise of the 
Obama campaign: ``I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan, no family 
making less then $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not 
your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, 
not any of your taxes.''
  Quote: ``There are also those who claim that our reform effort will 
insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false--the reforms I'm 
proposing

[[Page H9415]]

would not apply to those who are here illegally.''
  Fact: Nothing in any of the Democrat bills would require individuals 
to verify their citizenship or identity prior to receiving taxpayer-
subsidized benefits--making the President's promise one that the 
legislation itself does not keep.
  Quote: ``And one more misunderstanding I want to clear up--under our 
plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions, and federal 
conscience laws will remain in place.''
  Fact: The National Right to Life Committee, among other independent 
pro-life groups, have confirmed that the legislation will result in 
federal funds being used to pay for abortions--both through the 
government-run health plan, and through federal subsidies provided 
through the Exchange, despite various accounting gimmicks created in an 
Energy and Commerce Committee ``compromise.''
  Quote: ``I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits--
either now or in the future. Period.''
  Fact: The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has found that H.R. 
3200 would increase deficits by $239 billion over 10 years--and also 
found that the legislation ``would probably generate substantial 
increases in federal budget defictis'' thereafter. The Peter G. 
Peterson Foundation released a study today which found that in its 
second decade, H.R. 3200 would increase federal deficits by more than 
$1 trillion.
  Quote: ``Not a dollar of the Medicare trust fund will be used to pay 
for this plan.''
  Fact: Among more than $500 billion in proposed savings from Medicare, 
the Democrat bills also propose redirecting $23 billion from the 
Medicare Improvement Fund to fund new health care entitlements. 
According to current law, the Medicare Improvement Fund is designated 
specifically ``to make improvements under the original Medicare fee-
for-service program.''
  Quote: ``Reducing the waste and inefficiency in Medicare and Medicaid 
will pay for most of this plan. Much of the rest would be paid for with 
revenues from the very same drug and insurance companies that stand to 
benefit from tens of millions of new customers.''
  Fact: The Congressional Budget Office has previously found that the 
cuts to Medicare Advantage plans included in the Democrat legislation 
would result in millions of seniors losing their current plan--a direct 
contradiction of the President's assertion that ``nothing in this plan 
requires you to change what you have.''
  Quote: ``This reform will charge insurance companies a fee for their 
most expensive policies, which will encourage tham to provide greater 
value for the money--an idea which has the support of Democratic and 
Republican experts. And according to these same experts, this modest 
change could help hold down the cost of health care for all of us in 
the long-run.''
  Fact: While some Republicans support addressing the current employee 
exclusion for health insurance in the context of overall tax reform, 
the President's proposal would raise ``fees'' in order to finance new 
federal spending--a tax increase of hundreds of billions of dollars, 
and one that many Republicans may not support.
  Quote: ``Add it all up, and the plan I'm proposing will cost around 
$900 billion over ten years.''
  Fact: The Congressional Budget Office, in its score of H.R. 3200 as 
introduced, found that the legislation would spend approximately $1.6 
trillion over ten years--nearly double the President's estimate.
  Quote: ``I will continued to seek common ground in the weeks ahead. 
If you come to me with a serious set of proposals, I will be there to 
listen. My door is always open.''
  Fact: On May 13, House Republican leaders all wrote the President a 
letter reading in part: ``We write to you today to express our sincere 
desire to work with you and find common ground on the issue of health 
care reform. . . . We respectfully request a meeting with you to 
discuss areas for potential common ground on health care reform.'' 
Nearly 4 months later, that meeting has yet to take place.

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