Historic debate over health reform begins in Congress

The long-awaited debate about how to fix our broken health care system has begun in Congress.  Key committees in each chamber are reviewing the bills, which are expected to be voted in the full House during the last week in July and in the full Senate during the first or second week in August.

The House bill is HR 3200.  It would enable 97 percent of the people legally in the United States to obtain health coverage.  The cost would be about $1 trillion over ten years.  One-half of this would be covered by reducing the cost of our existing health care system.  The other half would be covered by new income taxes on individuals earing more than $280,000 a year and families earning more than $350,000 a year.

Opponents of reform  have responded with television ads and other tactics designed to scare the public about "a government take-over of health care."  Such claims are false.  What the bills actually do is:

*  Strengthen private, employment-based health care by providing tax credits to small employers that provide coverage and prohibiting insurance industry practices that cause spikes in the rates small employers pay for coverage;

*  Level the playing field among employers by requiring all except the smallest to either provide coverage or contribute to the cost of coverage;

*  Lower the cost of insurance coverage for families and individuals in the lower half of the income scale by providing subsidies to help pay those premiums;

*  Reduce the risk of medical bankruptcy by limiting the annual out-of-pocket costs that any insured family or individual is required to pay;

*  Provide a government-backed insurance option for individuals and families that do not have insurance coverage now or who must pay more than 11 percent of their incomes for such a plan at their places of employment; and

*  Bring system-wide medical care costs under control by encouraging more emphasis on prevention, primary care, chronic disease management, and payment reform.

Key votes among members of Pennsylvania's congressional delegation will be cast by its more middle-of-the-road members.  Their names, and the telephone number for their district offices, follows:

Rep. Jason Altmire (Aliquippa) 724-378-0928;

Rep. Tim Murphy (Pittsburgh) 412-344-5583;

Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper (Erie) 814-456-2018;

Rep. Tim Holden (Harrisburg) 717-234-5904;

Rep. Todd Platts (York) 717-600-1919;

Rep. Charlie Dent (Bethlehem) 610-861-9734;

Rep. Chris Carney (Clarks Summit) 570-585-9988;

Rep. Paul Kanjorski (Wilkes-Barre) 570-825-2200;

Rep. Pat Murphy (Doylestown) 215-348-1194.

Call your member today.