THE REAL TURKEY THIS THANKSGIVING

The Health Care Bills are the Real Turkey This Thanksgiving

Harry Reid has had his bill for 6 weeks – shouldn’t the American people have the same time period to review it and know what the bill contains? After all, 2,074 pages isn’t exactly light reading.

2) Some treatments could be deemed unnecessary – A government task force recently declared that mammograms for women younger than 50 were not recommended. The Health and Human Services Secretary quickly backed away from her task force’s declaration, but under these bills unaccountable bureaucracies would have vast new powers to coerce doctors to follow their recommendations.

3) Young people would be required to pay higher premiums – A study by actuarial firm Oliver Wyman found the restrictive new insurance regulations in both the House and Senate bills would increase premiums for young people by 69 percent.

4) Everyone would be forced to purchase costly plans – Requiring everyone to purchase expensive health care plans with high premiums – and not allowing people to choose affordable options that meet their budgets and needs – would mean lower-cost high-deductible plans would no longer be available.

5) Loads of new taxes – Nonpartisan experts at the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) have concluded that new excise taxes on medical devices would be passed on to patients, increasing insurance premiums and increasing prices on everything from wheelchairs to pacemakers. The tax increases in the Senate bill add up to almost $500 billion.

6) Expands Medicaid and shifts costs – The Senate bill would force 15 million Americans into
the flawed Medicaid program, which 4 in 10 doctors won’t accept because the program
underpays providers. Studies show that expanding the program directly increases costs
for everyone else, since doctors and hospitals must make up for their losses under
Medicaid by shifting costs to other patients.

7) Taxes “Cadillac” and union plans – The new 40 percent tax on high-end “Cadillac” health insurance plans (any plan over $8,500 for an individual or $23,000 for a family) would force companies to shift costs to employees or to reduce the value of the health benefits they provide.

Government-forced health care mandates on employers would require employers to pay up to 8% higher payroll taxes in the House bill and $750 per employee in the Senate bill. This will result in lower pay and job losses, especially for low-income workers.

9) Medicare benefits would be slashed by over $400 billion, reducing benefits for seniors and jeopardizing access to care for millions of others. If these cuts do not materialize, then the bills will dramatically increase deficits.

10) Millions will still be uninsured. Even though the whole health care system will be turned upside-down, the CBO says at the end of 10 years there will still be 24 million uninsured Americans under the Senate bill.

A survey showed 45 percent of doctors currently practicing would consider leaving the field of medicine if this health care plan is passed. Tell your senator to vote “No” on this bloated health care power grab!
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