WASHINGTON D.C. Today U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) released the following statement on U.S. Senator Max Baucus health care proposal:
While I respect Senator Baucus efforts a plan cant be characterized as bipartisan if it wont realistically garner support on both sides of the aisle. "The latest Senate plan includes a mandate on individuals higher taxes for many middle-class families and an unfunded burden placed on states through Medicaid at a time when state budgets are already stretched by increasing Medicaid costs.
It withdraws crucial support for hospitals to pay for" the proposal.
These are all non-starters for me and many of my colleagues" Hutchison said.
What we need is to increase access to healthcare and to address rising costs. However we must do it in a way that does not hijack the system we have lead to higher taxes and lower quality care and massively expand the government.
Ive joined with Senator DeMint in support of a Republican alternative which
would give tax credits to individuals rather than impose mandates and fines. It is an alternative that would allow portability and choice not tax increases and more government bureaucracy.
It is an alternative that cuts down on waste fraud and abuse while driving down costs through badly needed tort reform. And it is an alternative that would allow Americans to keep the doctors and care their families know and trust.
A plan cant be characterized as bipartisan if it wont realistically garner support on both sides of the aisle" Hutchison concluded.
