(Washington, DC) - US Representative Sue Myrick (NC-09) has released the following statement after voting against HR 3590, the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act:

“For over a year, the American people have told Congress that they don’t want this kind of health care reform, and for over a year, the Majority in Congress has ignored them.  So now, as a result of arm twisting and billions of dollars in backroom deals, the Majority scraped together just enough votes to pass one of the most expensive, over-arching, unwanted pieces of legislation in the history of our government. 

This bill will simply make sure that the government has more control over the American people and their health care.  It isn’t going to reduce deficits; if you remove all of the budget gimmicks, this bill actually increases our national deficit by $433 billion in the first 10 years.  It’s not going to save the American people money; insurance plans purchased on the individual market will increase by an average of $2,300.  And it’s not going to help our economy; it raises taxes by more than $500 billion in the middle of a recession.

Does our health care system need reform?  Yes, nobody is going to argue with that.  We need to make coverage portable so that people don’t lose coverage if they lose their job or change careers.  We need to eliminate pre-existing conditionexclusions, and fully fund high-risk pools so that people who can’t afford coverage can access it. We must be committed to real medical liability reform so that doctors don’t pass along the high cost of practicing medicine to their patients.

Never in my time in Congress have I seen such a blatant disregard for the voice of those whom we represent.  The American people want reform, but not this kind of reform.  That is why I voted no”.

HR 3590 passed by a vote of 219-212. 

After passage, the House took a vote on HR 4872, the Reconciliation Act of 2010.  The goal of this bill is to make several changes to unpopular provisions in the health care reform bill after it is signed into law.  HR 4872 passed by a vote of 220-211, and will be sent to the Senate for further consideration.