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MEDIA ADVISORY, Monday, January 22, 2007
CONTACT: Yoni Cohen, (202) 225-3202
STARK: THE STATE OF PRESIDENT BUSH'S HEALTH CARE POLICY IS WEAK
Tax proposal would shift cost and risk from employers to employees
WASHINGTON – Representative Pete Stark (D-CA), Chairman of the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, today responded to reports that President Bush will in the State of the Union propose a tax increase on working families and small businesses:
"The President's so-called health care proposal won't help the uninsured, most of whom have limited incomes and are already in low tax brackets," said Stark. “But it will hurt middle-income Americans, whose employers will shift even more cost and risk to their employees.”
"Much like Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, gold-plated health insurance plans are a figment of President Bush's imagination," continued Stark. "As health care costs continue to rise, more and more people will be deemed to have ‘gold-plated’ coverage, even as insurance companies pay a smaller share of health care costs. The result? Higher taxes, higher premiums, and higher costs for working families. "
"Under the guise of tax breaks, the President is pursuing a policy designed to destroy the employer-based health care system through which 160 million people receive coverage," said Stark. "But in the individual insurance market, people will be denied coverage because of family history, existing illnesses, or genetic makeup. They’ll also be unable to take advantage of the cost savings that currently result from sharing risk company-wide."
"The private health care market will never provide reliable and affordable health care to all people. Instead of building on what's broken, we should build on what works," said Stark. "Medicare provides universal coverage to seniors citizens and people with disabilities at a lower cost than do private plans, and with more stability. Medicare, not the individual market, is the best model for health care reform."
"I and my Democratic colleagues in Congress look forward to working with reasonable Republicans to improve our broken health care system and guarantee quality health care for all. But President Bush's proposal will make a bad problem worse. I do not intend to consider this particular health care proposal in the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, but would be happy to meet with the President to consider alternative ideas, starting with the expansion of Medicare" concluded Stark.
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