“Today, the House of Representatives narrowly approved a costly, partisan bill the American people have said loud and clear they do not want.   My constituents, by a margin of over three-to-one, have said they do not like this plan -- and with good reason.

This bill represents a major expansion of the federal government’s role in health care. It creates new entitlement spending of nearly $1 trillion, slashes over $500 billion from Medicare in order to spend it elsewhere, allows the IRS to impose new fines on Americans who don’t purchase ‘acceptable’ coverage, fails to protect veterans’ care and imposes a new $20 billion tax on life-saving medical technology innovations.  

Amazingly, this bill also does not adequately address the fundamental problem of rising health care costs for individuals, families and small businesses.  Instead, premiums are likely to continue rising under this plan, while new taxes and penalties will make it even harder for small businesses to create jobs.   This is the exact wrong approach. 

There is no question we can and should reform health care.  But doing so with a massive government expansion that will burden future generations – all without fundamentally addressing the number one problem of rising costs – is both reckless and wrong.  The American people need and deserve better.”

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