In an appearance on Fox’s On the Record with Greta Van Susteren, Congressman John Boehner (R-West Chester) outlined the impact of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) 1,990-page government takeover of health care that costs Americans at least $1.1 trillion. Boehner noted that Speaker Pelosi’s health care bill will raise the cost of health insurance for most American families, kill jobs with new tax increases and new mandates, and cut seniors’ Medicare benefits. Boehner also highlighted the better solutions House Republicans are offering to lower health care costs for seniors, working families, and small businesses. Following are the full video and excerpts from the interview:
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BOEHNER ON SPEAKER PELOSI’S 1,990-PAGE GOVERNMENT TAKEOVER OF HEALTH CARE:
“Speaker Pelosi’s 1,990-page bill is going to raise the cost of health insurance for most American families. It’s going to raise the cost of health insurance, new mandates, new taxes. I think it’s just – it’s a monstrosity. And it’s exactly what the American people have been telling the Congress for months that they don’t want. They don’t want government control of their health care, and that’s exactly what this is.”
BOEHNER ON HOUSE REPUBLICANS’ BETTER SOLUTIONS TO LOWER COSTS AND INCREASES ACCESS TO QUALITY CARE:
“Well, if you look at their plan, it’s not just the so-called public option that’s there to compete with private insurance companies. You know, I used to run a small business. I can compete with people in the private sector, but I could never compete with the government. They have no cost to capital. They write all the rules. They set the premiums. And what’s going to happen is they’re going to drive every private health insurance company out of business.
“Republicans have much better ideas, I think, that would take the current system and make it work better. And over the coming days, you’re going to hear an awful lot about the specifics of what we would do to lower the cost of health insurance in America and really do this in a step-by-step gradual process.”
BOEHNER ON THE JOB-KILLING TAX HIKES IN SPEAKER PELOSI’S HEALTH CARE BILL:
“Well, if you look at the employer mandate – if you’re an employer that has over a $500,000 payroll annually, you either have to provide health insurance under their proposal or you pay an eight percent tax to the federal government. Many employers pay more than eight percent to cover the cost of their employees’ health insurance. Some of them – all of them are going to have to have their plans re-reviewed by the federal government to make sure that they’re, quote, ‘adequate.’
“Many employers are just going to give up and they’re going to get rid of their employer-provided health care plans, pay the eight percent tax and let their employees go fend out in the private market or in this so-called government option. But what will happen is we’re raising the cost of employment at a time when unemployment is at near record highs. What we ought to be doing is helping employers bring back employees, get our economy going again. And here we are taxing employment, which means that we’re going to end up with less numbers of employees in America.”
BOEHNER ON HOW SPEAKER PELOSI’S HEALTH CARE BILL WILL PILE MORE DEBT ON THE BACKS OF OUR KIDS AND GRANDKIDS:
“1,990 pages – now, tell me – tell me that this isn’t going to add to the deficit. They have all these estimates that try to predict what’s going to happen over the next 20 years or so with the cost of this plan. But this is the government making these estimates.
“You know, I remember when Medicare was passed. I’ve looked at the estimates. The Medicare cost estimate for this year is one thirty-fifth of what it actually is. And so when the federal government gets involved, the American people know what to expect. It’s going to cost a lot more. The federal government is going to end up making more decisions for the American people and get into the relationship between doctors and their patients. This is exactly what the American people are saying no to.”
BOEHNER ON THE $500 BILLION IN SENIORS’ MEDICARE CUTS IN SPEAKER PELOSI’S HEALTH BILL:
“Well, there are $500 million worth of Medicare cuts over the next 10 years. The most significant change is the $162 billion cut to Medicare Advantage. You know, I’ve got 27,000 Medicare enrollees in my district. And according to the Congressional Budget Office, about 80 percent of them would lose their coverage under this proposal. My seniors love their Medicare Advantage plans. And remember, the President said no one will be forced from the insurance policy they have today. If they like it, they can keep it…that’s not true.”
