Email from Cong. Paul Kanjorski

Dear Mr. Masters:

Thank you for informing me of your concerns about increased government involvement in health care.  I appreciated hearing from you on this important issue.  Please know that I share your concerns about ensuring that individuals who are satisfied with their health coverage are not negatively impacted by efforts to reform our health insurance system.

Obtaining health insurance at an affordable price has increasingly become a major concern for many American families.  From my perspective, health care costs for everyone will decrease when everyone has health insurance.  Too many of the estimated 47 million Americans without insurance rely on trips to the emergency room when they are very sick rather than see a doctor routinely to stay well.  Despite our lack of universal coverage, Americans spend more per capita on health care than any other major industrialized nation.   Approximately 17% of our Gross Domestic Product is spent on health care, or about $2.5 trillion each year.

The expense of providing health insurance benefits to workers has become one of the most pressing concerns for employers. Small businesses especially struggle to provide health insurance for their employees, and we should work to make this coverage more affordable.  Small businesses currently employ about half of working Americans, yet an estimated 27 million of the 47 million uninsured Americans are small business owners and their employees.

We must also work to ensure that Medicare continues to provide seniors and the disabled with comprehensive care, while making minor adjustments to the program.  I believe that seniors should receive a streamlined, affordable prescription drug benefit directly through Medicare just as they do for traditional hospital and physician coverage.  In addition, we should work to eliminate the coverage gap in the program, known as the “donut hole”.  Medicare should also be able to negotiate with drug companies for better prices the way the VA currently does.  These changes would help bring down costs for seniors.

As you may know, the Congress is currently considering legislation to reform our health care system.  In the House of Representatives, Congressman John Dingell of Michigan introduced H.R. 3200, the America‘s Affordable Health Choices Act on July 14, 2009.  Among its many provisions, this legislation would make reforms to insurance coverage like requiring insurers to provide coverage for pre-existing conditions; would create a voluntary government-run insurance plan; would establish a health insurance exchange to provide information about plans available in a certain area; and would improve the Medicare prescription drug program by closing the donut hole.

The three committees of jurisdiction have reviewed H.R. 3200 and each committee has made changes to it.  These changes will ultimately have to be reconciled into one bill before the House of Representatives can vote on it.   Please know that I am currently reviewing H.R. 3200 and the changes proposed by these committees.

In addition, committees in the Senate are also crafting health care reform legislation which differs significantly from H.R. 3200.  As a result, members from the House and Senate will likely have to engage in a conference committee to resolve any differences between a House-passed bill and a Senate-passed bill.  I expect that any bill which reaches the President’s desk for signature will be significantly different from the legislation introduced in the House of Representatives.

As you may know, there is much confusion about the health care reform legislation.  In order to provide individuals with accurate information, I have posted documents about H.R. 3200 on my website at http://kanjorski.house.gov.  In addition, I recently held a telephone town meeting about health care reform and the audio recording of this meeting is also available on my website.  I hope you will review this information and continue to share your thoughts on this matter.

Again, thank you for contacting me.  Please feel free to call, write or email me again on this or any issue that concerns you.

Sincerely,

Paul E. Kanjorski
Member of Congress