GREGG AND ENZI: INCOMPLETE DEMOCRATIC HEALTH CARE BILL WILL COST TRILLIONS AND LEAVE MILLIONS UNINSURED
WSHINGTON -- U.S. Senators Judd Gregg (R-NH) and Mike Enzi (R-WY), ranking members of the Senate Budget Committee, and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, respectively, today issued the following statements regarding the true cost and impact of the incomplete Democratic health reform proposal currently being marked up by the Senate HELP Committee. On Monday, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a preliminary analysis estimating that this unfinished plan will increase spending by more than $1.3 trillion from 2010 to 2019.
Senator Gregg stated, “CBO has estimated that the health care reform proposal put forth by the Democratic members of the Senate HELP Committee, even in its imperfect form, will increase spending by more than $1.3 trillion in the first ten years. That number is staggering, but what is more disturbing is that the estimate fails to reflect the true cost of the fully-implemented plan, which will ring in at more than $2.3 trillion over ten years.
“This highly partisan proposal is a massive expansion of government that will put us on track to a government-run, single-payer plan that puts Washington between you and your doctor. Further, ten years and trillions of dollars later, this plan would only reduce the number of uninsured by 17 million at a cost of more than $14,000 per person, leaving 37 million in our country still without health insurance. Access to health insurance is key to financial security and the overall well-being of all Americans; however, it is irresponsible for us to sign onto this incomplete proposal that spends trillions, pushes our nation significantly further into debt, and leaves millions uninsured.”
Senator Enzi stated, “This bill costs too much and covers too few. We could provide quality, affordable health insurance to millions more Americans if this bill weren’t so wasteful and inefficient. It makes no sense to spend more than $1 trillion on a bill that will leave at least 37 million Americans without the care they need.”
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