Cynthia Lummis

Health Care

People in Wyoming and all Americans deserve accessible, affordable and high quality health care.  But the fact remains that too many people in Wyoming – including ranchers, small business owners, and small business employees – either do not have health insurance or they are paying far too much for it.

Unfortunately, the health care law passed by President Obama and the Democrat congressional majority will only exacerbate health costs, a fact confirmed by the Administration’s own actuary and other independent analysis. By 2014, the new law will require all individuals and businesses to purchase health insurance or face significant tax penalties. The new law, which will take several years to fully develop and unfold, creates a vast federal bureaucracy that will dictate to all Americans and businesses the kind of health insurance they will be forced to purchase.

In November 2010, the American people elected a Republican Majority to the House of Representatives. House Republicans passed a bill to repeal the health care law and will continue to work toward full repeal of the health bill, replacing it with patient-centered reforms that reduce health costs for those who have health coverage and guarantee affordable options for those who do not. We should be seeking to empower individuals, not the government, with more choices and more control over their healthcare dollars.

In the meantime, the House Committees now in control by Republicans continue to go through this enormous and sprawling law piece by piece under the watchful eye of the public.  I hope this will help shed light on a law that was never adequately debated or even fully understood when it was initially pushed through Congress.