After months of posturing President Obama has made it clear: the Senate bill is the final bill. The bill that narrowly passed the Senate on Christmas Eve by a partisan vote (prior to the election of Republican Scott Brown from Massachusetts) will more or less be the final bill.
The only way the massive 2700-page health care bill will become law is if the House now passes the Senate-passed bill says the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
If the Senate bill is passed into law with the Presidents reconciliation adjustments the following dangerous policies will become law says the Chamber:
- You cannot keep the plan you have; all health insurance plans will be subject to numerous new mandates requirements regulations and bureaucratic oversight which will force the plans to raise prices and change or eliminate plan offerings.
- Your health care costs will increase; the bill will do very little to control costs while simultaneously taxing the health industry -- taxes consumers will pay -- and forcing Americans to purchase more expensive health insurance.
- Your taxes will increase; there will be a massive new payroll tax a new tax on investments and 401(k)s a new tax on Cadillac health benefits new taxes on medical devices and prescription drugs new taxes on all health insurance policies and increased taxes in the form of cost-shifting through lower payments to hospitals and doctors.
Also:
- The debt the deficit and federal spending will increase; despite a number of accounting gimmicks like starting the taxation before the program spending begins and double-counting $500 billion in Medicare cuts the bills true cost will be trillions of dollars. The bill creates new entitlements that will increase forever much like Social Security and Medicare.
- Medicare will be cut by $500 billion; the Congressional Budget Office clearly stated: 20 percent of Part A providers would become unprofitable and stop seeing Medicare patients.
- Jobs will be lost or never created; the bill creates a huge incentive not to hire low-wage workers or grow a business beyond 50 employees. Employers who hire a low-wage worker even if they offer great health insurance could be fined $3000 per year.
Source: James Gelfand The Fix Is In: Dangerous Health Bill Coming to Final Vote U.S. Chamber of Commerce March 9 2010.
For text:
http://www.chamberpost.com/2010/03/the-fix-is-in-dangerous-health-bill-coming-to-final-vote.html
