Congressman Zach Wamp issued a statement after Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats unveiled their 1,990-page health care reform bill today:
“The goal of health care reform should be lowering costs and giving Americans more control of their health care decisions. But the 1,990-page bill released today actually increases the cost of health insurance. It raises taxes on middle class families, cuts Medicare benefits for seniors and imposes an additional tax burden on small businesses, among other things, on the way to a government takeover of health care.
“Even some Democrats have objected to this kind of overreaching health care reform. Our own Governor Bredesen called the Senate proposal ‘the mother of all unfunded mandates’ and has said that it will add 20 million people to states’ Medicaid rolls, which could saddle Tennessee with more than $1 billion in a decade. In Congress, pro-life Democrats oppose the provisions in this bill that would allow federal dollars to fund abortions.
“The right kind of reform would offer access to coverage for all Americans, improve the health care delivery system, rein in out of control costs, and provide responsible medical liability reform. Health care is too important to put in the hands of Washington bureaucrats.”