Rallies Mark Health Care Plan Protests

The State Capitol is the site this morning at 10 a.m. of a rally in protest of President Obama's health care proposal.

It is one of many "Recess Rallies" scheduled in Oklahoma. There are over 1000 rallies being held around the country as many add their names to the growing list of those not satisfied with the health care proposal.

Americans for Prosperity and Patients First are both co-sponsors of the events.

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Cole: Citizens Should Seek A Second Opinion

Last week President Obama and his liberal Democratic allies in Congress announced plans for a government takeover of America's health care industry. This plan will cost more than a trillion dollars and will be paid for by tax increases and costly mandates on small business owners and by cuts to Medicare. And if you are among the over 250 million Americans who currently have health insurance, get ready for big changes.

By Congressman Tom Cole

For years the left has grossly overstated the true number of Americans who are genuinely and chronically uninsured. Among the alleged 47 million people without insurance are millions who could afford insurance, but simply choose not to buy it. Many of these people are young and healthy and they don't think anything will ever happen to cause them to need insurance. Millions more are people in-between jobs. They may be uninsured at the particular time that the snapshot is taken, but they have been insured in the recent past and they will be insured in the near future.

The plan announced by the Democrats in Congress, and endorsed by President Obama, is not about providing health care for everyone. In fact, their plan will still leave approximately 17 million Americans without insurance. This plan is about taking control of yet another American industry. It is about controlling people and limiting their choices. And it is just the latest step in their frightening march of America towards a European-style socialism.

According to a 2009 study by the non-partisan Lewin Group, the Democrats' health care bill will force 114 million Americans out of their current private health coverage. This includes approximately 106 million individuals who are covered under an existing employer-provided plan. Because the centerpiece of their plan is a government run program based on Medicare, which reimburses doctors for less than the cost of the service delivered, doctors and hospitals have to charge private insurance companies and their customers more in order to make up the difference. As a result, the cost of private health coverage is expected to increase by an estimated $460 per person, or $1,788 for a family of four. This proposal also robs many of America's seniors of health care coverage that they are currently receiving. Those who have signed up for Medicare Advantage, a popular prescription drug plan chosen by many of our country's senior citizens, will see sharp cuts to their program funding.

The final cost of this plan is still being calculated, but most experts - including those who favor this plan - expect it to exceed one trillion dollars. And while Democrats are still trying to figure out how to pay for it, some of the options on the table include costly mandates to small businesses, cuts to Medicare benefits, and taxing people's employer based health care benefits as income.

Lest it sound like I am unsympathetic to the plight of those who are without insurance - I am not. I agree that we have a moral obligation to continue to look for ways to provide basic health care for the weakest and most vulnerable among us. And there are numerous ways that objective can be achieved without plunging our nation headlong into socialized medicine. The proposal being promoted by President Obama is a prescription for rationed care, higher costs, longer waits and economic disaster. American's would be well advised to seek a second opinion.

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Lucas: Government-Run Health Care No Answer

There has been a growing sense of frustration in this country over the rising cost of health care, and this problem has recently been compounded by our ailing economy as Americans are losing their jobs and struggling to make ends meet.

By Congressman Frank Lucas

I know there are many families in Oklahoma who currently do not have health insurance- making one sick child a potential family crisis. I host 50 town halls a year across the Third Congressional District, and when the topic of health care comes up, people consistently tell me they are happy with their doctor, their coverage, and their hospital, but are concerned about the cost and the accessibility, especially in more rural areas.

In a country as advanced as the United States, we should be able to provide quality health care coverage that is affordable and accessible to every American while preserving patients’ rights to select their own doctors, their own health care coverage, and their own courses of treatment. However, a government run health care system, like the one currently being drafted by congressional Democrats, will not provide this.

The system they are discussing will use a “public option”- one that is similar to the systems used in Canada or France. And while those systems might do a good job of meeting routine needs for their citizens, like taking their blood pressure or providing vaccines, they ration treatment for more severe problems creating a backlog of patients waiting for treatments. For that reason, you have Canadians traveling in to the United States to pay out of their pockets for expensive treatments, like MRIs, because they can’t afford to wait to receive them.

Under the proposed “public option” plan, Speaker Pelosi and President Obama will take our health care system, a system that is the most effective, efficient, and innovative in the world, and turn it inside out. While there are issues within our system that need to be addressed, we don’t need to reinvent the wheel.

Right now, this country is running a deficit of over $11 trillion, and that number is expected to continue to climb once President Obama’s appropriations packages are passed in Congress. So, in order to pay for this estimated $1 trillion plan, they will dramatically increase taxes on all Americans, including those who are already struggling to pay for their own health care, as well as struggling to put dinner on the table.

Simply put, this is not good policy. We need to refocus our efforts to make changes in our health care system that are efficient and cost-effective, while continuing to ensure that patients come first, that the doctor-patient relationship is not disrupted by bureaucrats in Washington, and that health care treatments are never rationed out by government officials.

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Democrats Plan GOP Critique

Democratic legislators will be joined at a State Capitol press conference this morning by advocates for health care and insurance reform to discuss the fate of measures that have been killed by Republicans, Democrats announced.

Democratic members of the both the Senate and the House will also discuss legislation killed this session that they claim would help lower the cost of college for more Oklahoma families and provide important public safety measures for children. They will also discuss strategies to resurrect measures that have been killed by Republican members of both the Senate and the House, their announcement said.

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Morrissette Proposes Tax Break

In a move that he says could dramatically improve health care coverage in Oklahoma, Rep. Richard Morrissette has filed legislation, House Bill 1888, to provide working families similar tax benefits enjoyed by large corporations.

"In the spirit of President Bush's State of the Union address tomorrow evening, I have filed a bill that will make the Oklahoma tax code fairer for working men and women and their families by providing a tax break for health care expenses such as in-patient hospital care, prescription drugs, rehabilitative care and nursing home care," said Morrissette, D-Oklahoma City.

"These tax breaks are similar to those already given large corporations and big businesses, who are now allowed to deduct all types of expenses and have been allowed that right for many years. Any tax code benefits should be applied broadly and fairly, which House Bill 1888 does."

Under current law, businesses are allowed a tax break to offset the cost of employee insurance. President George Bush is expected to call for extending that break to individuals who buy their own insurance during his State of the Union speech on Tuesday.

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