News and Views

Government-run Health Care Plan Will Cost Jobs and Increase Taxes, Congressman Jerry Lewis Warns

WASHINGTON – The government-run health care plan that is being rushed through Congress by the Democratic majority will cause many small businesses to sacrifice jobs, raise health care costs, and could allow government bureaucrats to decide what health care choices are available to all Americans, Congressman Jerry Lewis warned Thursday.

Lewis issued the following statement in opposition to the proposed plan:

“There is no question that we face difficulties and inequities within our overall health care system, and we must find a way to make affordable health insurance available to as many Americans as possible.”

“But the plan that is now being rammed through Congress will amount to transferring control of our entire health care system to the federal government. The result will be government bureaucrats telling Americans what kind of health care they can get, and even the Congressional Budget Office has determined that this is going to result in a rise in the cost of health care.”
            “The supporters of this plan claim they can pay the $1 trillion cost by taxing the rich and finding ‘savings.’ Americans should be wary of any huge federal program that claims to reduce costs – we all know that the federal government has a horrible track record of bringing down costs.”

“I am convinced that this program, like so many others, will require tax increases on all working Americans to cover out-of-control costs.”

“In this terrible economy, we cannot afford a massive new program that will cause small businesses to cut jobs. Small business owners in my district say they will have no choice but to eliminate workers to meet the demands of this plan. This would be devastating in our region, where we are already facing an unemployment rate of nearly 13 percent.”

“The government operatives who intend to run this system have already predicted that they will need to emphasize “cost effectiveness” and limit choices in order to bring down costs. Putting a government bureaucrat in charge of health care choices that should be made between a patient and a doctor is unacceptable.”

“I am strongly opposed to this plan for all of these reasons. My top priority is to keep quality health-care coverage for people who have it while looking for innovative ways to provide health care coverage to those who need it. Having a government takeover of healthcare will cause costs to rise and reduce choice, and it will not work for Americans.”

Click Here to Return to News & Views