Senator's Column by Senator Mike Johanns

June 22, 2009 Rushed Health Care Proposals Fall Far Short Dear Nebraskans, Americans need true health care reform, and members of Congress agree that this issue must be addressed. The Administration has promised several things: everyone will have access to health care; everyone will get to keep their insurance plan if they want; and the government will be responsible with taxpayers' money. The President has also repeatedly promised that while he is President there will be no increase in taxes for the middle class. Any plan that falls short of these goals is highly inadequate and does not give the American people solutions they deserve. Recently, two Senate committees came forward with preliminary proposals. So how do the proposals stack up with the promises of the Administration? Does everyone get access to health care? Does everyone who wants to keep their plan get to do so? Finally, is the government being responsible with your money? The two draft proposals analyzed by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) were produced by the Senate Finance Committee and the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. The first draft of the Finance Committee's plan would cost $1.6 trillion, but has not been finalized. The HELP bill would cost more than $1 trillion over ten years, and that excludes the cost of a government-run option. According to CBO, this plan would only insure an additional 16 million people at a cost of $62,000 per person, and would still leave 30 million uninsured. CBO also projects that under the current proposals, 15 million people would lose their employer-sponsored insurance. The independent Lewin Group estimates that number could be as high as 119 million when the public plan is included. Furthermore, neither committee has suggested how we would pay for these plans. Will proponents suggest raising taxes? Increase our already bloated debt? Neither plan has an answer for this. Neither plan fulfills any of the President's health care promises. That's not even addressing the issue of the President's promise not to raise taxes on the middle class. These proposals fall far short of real solutions. The two preliminary proposals are not what Americans need. It is our responsibility to actually solve the problem instead of pushing a half-analyzed bill through the process. Rushing complex legislation just to finish by the August recess doesn't make sense. As the adage goes, it is better to do the research to get it right the first time, instead of getting it wrong expeditiously. Nothing is more important than the health and safety of millions of American families.