[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 18]
[House]
[Page 23755]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              ACCOUNTING GIMMICKS IN PROPOSED HEALTH CARE

  (Mr. CASSIDY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. Speaker, instead of passing health care reform that 
lowers costs, Democrats are positioned to pass a bill that hides costs 
by passing them on to State taxpayers. A frightening footnote in the 
Congressional Budget Office report on the Senate Financial Committee 
bill reveals a $37 billion Medicaid mandate on State governments. 
Unlike the Federal Government, States can't just print money.
  This $37 billion mandate will force States across the Nation to 
choose between deep cuts to programs or steep tax hikes. In Louisiana 
alone, it's $612 million over 5 years. That's $612 million less for 
roads, for higher education, for secondary education, for economic 
development.
  In addition to driving States into bankruptcy, this unfunded mandate 
deliberately hides the bill's true cost. Whether from Federal taxes or 
State taxes, the American people will have to absorb this.
  If the bill actually lowered costs, its author would not have to hide 
behind accounting gimmicks to sell the bill.

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