[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6376]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        FIX THE HEALTH CARE BILL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Stearns) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. STEARNS. Madam Speaker, last week, the chief actuary for the 
Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, CMS, issued a troubling 
report, but it is not at all surprising to many of us who debated the 
health care bill. The report said that the Obamacare health care bill 
will increase national health expenditures by $311 billion. That is a 
deficit.
  During the debate, many of us said on the House floor that this bill 
will increase the deficit and expand Federal powers. I would like to 
take a few minutes to outline some of the problems with the bill by 
government officials pointing out these problems.
  First of all, it obviously increases the deficit. CBO projected the 
cost of the health care bill to be $940 billion and it would reduce the 
deficit by $138 billion. However, that has been proven to be wrong. 
There are budget gimmicks in place and it is unlikely that Congress 
will keep those gimmicks in place. For example, the bill assumes that a 
21 percent cut to Medicare's physician reimbursement rate will stay in 
place. This won't happen.
  New taxes and mandates will create economic hardship. Businesses will 
be forced to buy health insurance for their employees or pay a tax for 
every employee. This will place businesses into a very difficult 
position, cutting workers, reducing wages, or preventing companies from 
growing larger if they wish to avoid these costly penalties. With 10 
percent unemployment nationwide, is this the right time to create a 
disincentive for a company to hire more workers?
  Expanding a broken entitlement creates more problems, not real 
solutions. For example, in 2014, Medicaid will be expanded to all 
individuals making less than 133 percent of the Federal poverty level. 
Half the people covered under the health care bill will be covered 
because of Medicaid. Unfortunately, most doctors do not participate in 
Medicaid because the reimbursement rate is far less than the private 
sector and less than Medicare. So where are these 16 million people 
going to go to get health care?
  It bankrupts State budgets through Medicaid expansion. With 16 
million new individuals enrolled in Medicaid, States will be on the 
hook for more Medicaid spending. In the short term, the Federal 
Government will pay for the expansion of Medicaid, but after 2017, 
States will have to pick up about 10 percent of the cost. Many States 
do not have the ability to do this; it will make it more difficult for 
them.
  Medicare cuts jeopardize the care of our seniors. Medicare's costs 
continue to grow and the Medicare Trust Fund continues to be insolvent. 
So, to fix this problem, the majority cut over $500 billion from 
Medicare, but rather than using the savings to extend the program, they 
immediately spent it on expanding Medicaid and creating subsidies for 
the health insurance exchange. CMS reports 15 percent of hospitals will 
be unprofitable within 10 years just because of these cuts.
  It creates an inequity against low-income workers. The employer 
mandate requires businesses to offer a health plan that meets with the 
approval of HHS. This will drive up the cost of health plans, and small 
businesses may not be able to afford a robust insurance plan. CMS' 
report further points out how many small businesses may cancel their 
plans because it is cheaper to pay the tax than to provide health 
insurance.
  New regulations increase government control over health care. HHS 
gains an incredible amount of power under this bill. They will now have 
the power to dictate insurance policies, insurance prices, regulate the 
insurance market, and control benefits offered in your health care 
plan.
  This bill obviously violates the Constitution in the fact that the 
Federal Government now is mandating that all U.S. citizens purchase a 
health care plan from a private company as a requirement for lawful 
residency in this country. This is an unprecedented extension of 
Federal power, and this is only the beginning. The health care bill was 
so big and so complex that now we are only learning about the problems 
and flaws in the law, such as its treatment of veteran health plans or 
weakening the Medicaid program for new lawsuits from trial lawyers.
  We need to fix this bill and rein in all the controls and power that 
have been provided through this bill here in Washington.

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