Dear Congressman Reyes,

We write you this letter urging you to oppose the proposed House Health Care legislation, H.R. 3962. As written, this bill contains over 1,990 pages, will cost $1.05 trillion over the first ten years and is paid for by over $700 billion in tax increases and cuts to Medicare Advantage and Medicare prescription drug payments. The Washington Post describes the bill as “creating an expensive new entitlement program (subsidies to purchase health insurance) and dramatically expanding an existing one (Medicaid).” The price tag of the bill listed at $1.05 trillion can only be achieved if Congress will cut Medicare reimbursement rates by 20% in 2010. The bill adds a significant burden to the Medicare program and aims to do so with less funding; hypocrisy at best.

Under current law, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that only 35 million Americans would be on Medicaid by 2019. H.R. 3962 massively expands the Medicaid program by raising the upper income cutoff to 150 percent of the federal poverty line. Their estimates are that 50 million Americans will be enrolled in the program at a ten year cost to the federal government of $425 billion and will increase the state government’s Medicaid costs by another $34 billion. H.R. 3962 creates a Health Insurance Exchange that will allow individuals without
employer based coverage to purchase insurance. The bill provides “affordability credits” to people who are below 400% of the federal poverty line. However, all of the people who are eligible for Medicaid or are below the 150% federal poverty line will be denied access to the affordability credit and will therefore be forced into Medicaid or will be subject to the individual mandate fine. El Paso has a significant population that falls under this category. This will lead to an expansion of Medicaid, which tax payers in El Paso and Texas cannot afford.

If a person chooses to purchase health insurance through the exchange, they will be required to enroll in the cheapest “basic” plans for the first two years. After that, they can choose between more expensive plans or the government run plan. The bill imposes a new 8% payroll tax on employers who don’t cover specified percentages of their employees’ health insurance. The ONLY effect this will have are job losses and lower wages, which El Paso cannot afford.

In this letter we have only highlighted a few of the truly detrimental policies that will be implemented if H.R. 3962 is passed. Additional travesties in the bill include the creation of a Health Czar, new requirements in the bill that will increase premiums, and the slow but sure expansion of the public option leaving Americans no choice but government run health care.

Health Care Reform is an important issue to the entire community of El Paso and all communities in the United States. A plan that forces Americans to buy health insurance, regulates private plans so heavily that they become too expensive, expands the power and size of the public option (federal government), and leaves Americans with no choice but government run health care is not a plan that the citizens of this country can afford.

As a community we have written, called and attempted to meet with you to discuss real solutions for health care reform. Tort reform, exclusion of mandated coverage, competition for health insurance policies across state lines, review and adoption of Medicare and Medicaid controls to reduce fraud and abuse are three real solutions that could be enacted immediately without the significant expansion of government and increased burden on American citizens.

According to Rasmussen, 54% of Americans are opposed to this bill and it does not have bipartisan support. Work with Congress for alternative solutions; listen to your constituents and the American people; we urge you not to support House bill H.R. 3962.

Sincerely,
Grass Roots El Paso
By: Genevieve Pendergras
President