Congressman
Henry E. Brown, Jr.

Posted by: Henry E. Brown, Jr. (May 04, 2010, 10:42 AM)

Throughout the health care debate Republicans said time and time again that the Democrats’ plan would increase health care costs and cause millions of people to lose their current coverage. I strongly expressed these concerns and many of you joined Republicans in urging Congressional Democrats and the President to scrap the health care plan. Despite opposition from the majority of the American people, all Republican Members of Congress and even some House Democrats, President Obama and Democrat leadership continued to push their health care plan. They dismissed our concerns and promised:

“If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. Period. If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan. Period. No one will take it away. No matter what.”  President Obama, June 15, 2009

“And it [the health reform plan] will slow the growth of health care costs for our families, our businesses, and our government.” President Obama, September 10, 2009

Despite these promises, a new analysis of ObamaCare by the actuaries at the President’s own Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) concluded that under the new health care law, half of all seniors who have Medicare Advantage plus plans will LOSE their coverage and health care spending will increase. In fact, the country will spend $311 billion MORE on health care under the new law than we would have without it.

The CMS report exposed the truth that Republicans feared all along. Congress must face reality and replace this health care law with sensible reform that will lower the cost of health care without growing the size of government.
 

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Posted by: Henry E. Brown, Jr. (March 21, 2010, 06:10 PM)

Several veterans organizations spoke out against the Democrats’ health care plan, H.R. 4872, saying that the bill “betrays our nation’s veterans and service members”.

The current legislation does not protect health care programs for our nation’s veterans, military retirees, military personnel and their families and survivors.  My Republican colleagues, Representative Steve Buyer and Representative Buck McKeon, offered an amendment that would protect these programs and ensure that those who have fought for our country are provided with the health care they have earned. Unfortunately, the amendment was ignored.

As Ranking Republican of the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Health, I am extremely disappointed. This is yet another reason why I am pushing for Democrats’ to scrap this bill and start over on health care reform.

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Posted by: Henry E. Brown, Jr. (March 19, 2010, 09:25 AM)

Why I am Opposed to the Democrats’ Health Care Plan

For the past year, my constituents in South Carolina have done everything they can to make it clear that they do not want a government takeover of health care. In November, I voted NO on the House health care bill, H.R. 3962, but despite a complete lack of Republican support, the health care bill passed.

This week, we are expected to consider the Senate’s final version of health care legislation which calls for even more taxes, more regulations, more spending and more federal control over our current health care system.

I am still against this government takeover of health care and I will vote NO when this legislation is once again brought to the House floor.  Below are some reasons why I am opposed to the Democrats’ health care plan.

Increases your health care costs: The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) confirmed that the health care bill would raise premiums for struggling middle-class families, resulting in non-group premium increases of $300 per year for individuals and $2,100 for families.

Millions of people will lose their current coverage, whether they like it or not: Despite the President’s claim that “if you like your coverage, you can keep it,” a new regime of government-run exchanges will force as many as 10 million Americans to give up their current employer-sponsored health care coverage in exchange for a government-run health care plan.

Taxes all Americans: The legislation taxes individuals who purchase insurance, individuals who do not purchase insurance and small and large businesses alike. Ultimately, the Democrats’ heath care plan will create $569.2 billion in tax increases.

More out-of-control spending that we cannot afford: According to the CBO, the bill currently before the House would spend nearly $1 trillion over its first ten years. Our country is already trillions of dollars in debt; we simply cannot afford another big-spending bill, especially when Republicans have proposed health care reform that could lower the deficit and decrease the cost of health insurance for the average American.

Taxpayer dollars will be used to fund abortions: The bill that passed the House in 2009 prohibited any Federal funding of abortion, consistent with the law since 1976. Despite strong bipartisan support for the continuation of this policy, the Senate bill would allow your Federal tax dollars to be used to cover abortions for the first time.

Harmful for Seniors: The current proposal cuts Medicare by half a trillion dollars and slashes Medicare Advantage enrollment by 8.5 million. It also raids the Social Security Trust Fund to pay for a new entitlement. This not only puts Seniors’ care at risk, but also treats their benefits like a bank for new government programs.

Creates unconstitutional mandates: Citizens would be forced to purchase government approved health care, regardless of whether they want it, need it or can afford it. Those who do not comply will be punished with fines and those who refuse or cannot pay these fines will be threatened with jail time.

Kills more jobs: The bill requires all employers to provide employees with government approved healthcare. Businesses that do not fulfill these requirements are penalized with a crippling tax that could force businesses to stop hiring or lay off employees. In fact, according to a model developed by the Council of Economic Advisers, the taxes in the bill could cause five million jobs to be lost.

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Posted by: Brown Staff (November 07, 2009, 11:13 AM)

WASHINGTON -Thursday, Congressman Henry E. Brown, Jr. (R-SC) joined his constituents from South Carolina along with thousands of other citizens concerned about the future of health care for a “House Call on Washington” to express their strong opposition to the Democrats’ 1.3 trillion dollar health care plan. Several constituents from South Carolina’s First District made the trip to Washington to participate in the event and later met with Congressman Brown to personally voice their concerns. After the event, Congressman Brown made the following remarks. Read more here

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Posted by: Brown Staff (October 27, 2009, 04:35 PM)

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Posted by: Brown Staff (September 18, 2009, 02:41 PM)

President Obama said this week that his health care plan won't cover illegal immigrants, but argued that's all the more reason to legalize them and ensure they eventually do get coverage. Read more here.

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Posted by: Congressman Brown (August 13, 2009, 01:54 PM)

• Millions will lose coverage, whether they like it or not: despite the President’s claim that “if you like your coverage, you can keep it,” proposed economic incentives, plus a government-run health plan would cause 83.4 million people to see their current employer-sponsored health plan disappear.

• Your coverage will be affected, even if you are able to keep it: Because the Democrats’ health “reform” bill creates new standards that all plans must conform to, eventually any remaining plans will be forced to change their current benefits. These benefit “upgrades” will cause your premiums to rise.

• New government regulations will stifle, instead of increase competition: Supporters of a new government run plan say that it would force greater competition among private insurance companies. But a new government controlled health care plan, coupled with the government’s new rules for private plans, would surely put private health insurance out of business sooner or later.  

• Government bureaucrats will pick your treatments: The President has said, “They’re going to have to give up paying for things that don’t make them healthier. ... If there’s a blue pill and a red pill, and the blue pill is half the price of the red pill and works just as well, why not pay half for the thing that’s going to make you well.” Based on statements like these, along with the creation of a new “health care tsar” who would give the final word on treatments, we can expect the government to be much more involved in choosing which treatments we can and can’t receive.

• Individuals will be mandated to buy health insurance, which means less liberty and more taxes: The Administration and Democrats in Congress are open to the idea of an individual mandate, which would require everyone to buy insurance that the federal government says is “qualified.” Individuals who did not buy the government approved health insurance would be faced with a tax penalty. Interestingly, in 2008, then Presidential candidate Obama said that he opposed an individual mandate because it would compel Americans to buy health coverage they would otherwise regard as unaffordable, and that it would be unenforceable.

• Taxes on business would be raised to higher rates than Europe: During a recession, when growth and jobs are at a premium, a surtax that will hit thousands of South Carolina small businesses has been proposed to pay for new government programs. If enacted, South Carolina’s top job creators and earners will have to bear a higher overall tax burden than Germany, France, Italy, and Japan, etc., with a national overall average tax rate of more than 52%. Raising such a tax during a recession, when we should be lessening the burden to create jobs and empower the consumer, is completely inappropriate.
  

• Taxpayers could be stuck footing the bill for abortions: H.R. 3200 does not explicitly mention abortion, but this leaves it up to the new Medicare advisory commission and the “health care tsar” to determine if it should be a basic benefit, and thus funded by taxpayers. Since 1976, bills pertaining to health care have contained the Hyde Amendment, which bars the use of federal funds to pay for abortions. Such an amendment was offered by Republicans in the markup of H.R. 3200, but was defeated by Democrats on a party line vote. Because of the possibility that taxpayers would be required to fund abortions under this bill, many religious organizations, including the National Right to Life, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, oppose it.

• It’s another $1 trillion bill, and once again, it won’t be paid for: According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the bill would cost at least $1.042 trillion, and would increase the deficit by $239 billion. However, the largest programs in the bill won’t be implemented until 2013, so we won’t know their true costs until much later.

• Rushing a thousand page bill prevents anyone from having time to read it: Policy as important to the American way of life should not be rushed. Some would like to prevent people from reading the bill, in order to prevent them from discovering provisions that could lead to loss of current coverage, rationing, interference with the doctor/patient relationship, and taxpayer funding of abortion. But when the Administration and Democratic leadership last told us we had to pass a thousand-page, $1 trillion bill in just a few days, as they did with the stimulus, we were threatened with 8% unemployment. Today, unemployment across the country stand at over 9% and unemployment in South Carolina rose over 12% on June. 

• Someone other than you may be making your health care decisions: The President has offered his diagnosis that “maybe you’d be better off not having the surgery, but taking the painkiller,” when asked about an elderly woman who needed a pacemaker. Further, he and Congressional Democrats have promised that somehow, their plan would save money without cutting benefits. Clearly, language is needed in any health reform bill that would block rationing of often life saving care through the deciding factor of cost or a federal board. But in both House and Senate committees, amendments that would have kept health care decisions between you and your doctor, and out of the hands of government bureaucrats, were blocked along party lines.

• Would cut a half trillion dollars from seniors’ Medicare: In order to pay for much of his more than $1 trillion plan to reform health care, the President has proposed cutting Medicare by more than $400 billion. Nevertheless, claims that a provision in the bill authorizing reimbursement for “end of life counseling” would encourage seniors not to utilize life saving treatments have been dismissed as untrue. Yet, despite the reduced commitment to Medicare, the President still claims the changes will be “painless.”

• Members of Congress who support a government run plan will keep their private plans: Proponents of H.R. 3200 have claimed that a government run plan would provide as good, or better, care than currently existing private plans. However, these same proponents want to keep their private plans, which do not resemble the proposed public plan they want to create. In fact, they feel their government plan is so important, that when an amendment was offered in the Committee on Energy and Commerce’s markup of the bill that would have given all Americans access to the same kind of private health insurance Members of Congress receive, they voted it down on party lines. In explanation, Chairman Waxman said, “I’d have to oppose this because it strikes the public plan.”

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Posted by: Brown Staff (August 11, 2009, 04:24 PM)

During President Obama’s latest town hall, he claimed there are “wild misrepresentations” surrounding his plan for a government takeover of health care.
The House Republican Conference has produced this video to highlight the true source of this “disinformation.”

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Posted by: Brown Staff (July 16, 2009, 04:03 PM)

Democrats have persistently claimed that their plans for health care reform would save money by lowering health care costs. That is an excellent goal, and one we all share. Unfortunately for the Democrats, the Director of the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says their claims don’t match up with reality:

“The health care overhauls released to date would increase, not reduce, the burgeoning long-term health costs facing the government, Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf said Thursday.” (CQ Politics, 7/16/09)

ABC News has the full exchange that took place today between CBO Director Doug Elmendorf and Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND). Here’s a snippet.

CONRAD: From what you have seen from the products of the committees that have reported, do you see a successful effort being mounted to bend the long-term cost curve?

ELMENDORF: No, Mr. Chairman.  In the legislation that has been reported we do not see the sort of fundamental changes that would be necessary to reduce the trajectory of federal health spending by a significant amount.  And on the contrary, the legislation significantly expands the federal responsibility for health care costs.

So much for that talking point. Your move, Democrats.

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Posted by: Brown Staff (June 25, 2009, 02:40 PM)

In recent days, the Obama administration has increasingly walked back promises that the Democrat health care plan will not force Americans out of the coverage they currently enjoy.

Yesterday at a House committee hearing on the Democrat plan, Christina Romer, the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers at the White House, found herself unable to ease American concerns that they will be forced into a government-run health care system.

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Posted by: Brown Staff (June 22, 2009, 11:36 AM)

Boy with heart defect speaks out for sick kids
The Post and Courier
Monday, June 22, 2009

Christine Chase, a North Charleston mother of two, was 18 weeks pregnant when she found out her son would be born with a congenital heart defect.

"Scary. That's the closest word I can use to describe how I felt all the time," said Chase, who quit her job as a pharmacy technician to care for her son. "It was devastating in the hospital. There was constant anxiety because we didn't know if he'd survive or not."

Matthew Chase was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a defect meaning only his right two heart chambers formed, resulting in three open-heart surgeries by age 3, all performed at the Medical University of South Carolina Children's Hospital.

Five years later, Matthew spent the past week as an MUSC representative in Washington for the 2009 National Association of Children's Hospitals Family Advocacy Day. He met with South Carolina's U.S. Reps. Jim Clyburn and John Spratt Jr., both Democrats, Republican Henry Brown and Republican U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint to discuss both affordable health insurance coverage and specialized, quality care for children.

Read more here.

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Posted by: Brown Staff (June 19, 2009, 02:57 PM)

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Posted by: Brown Staff (April 03, 2009, 10:52 AM)

Last night the President's Budget passed the House and Senate with NO Republican votes in either chamber.
Read about my support of the alternative GOP budget plans that offered reasonable solutions for middle class families, focused directly on creating jobs, tax relief and empowering small businesses to survive and grow.

Posted in Defense, Economy, Energy, Environment and Wildlife, Health Care, Homeland Security, Retirement, Taxes | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (March 09, 2009, 04:59 PM)

Today, President Obama signed an executive order overturning restrictions on taxpayer-funded embryonic stem-cell research. As a winner of the Family Research Council’s 'True Blue' Award for consistent support of families, I am strongly against this legislation as it diverts scarce federal resources away from innovative and proven adult stem cell research and forces taxpayers to subsidize research that will destroy human embryos.
Learn more about my work for and commitment to our nation's families.

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