Healthcare Talking Points and Target List - Activism Hats Please

Burn the phone lines:

Senator Max Baucus  202-224-2651

Senator Evan Bayh  202-224-5623

Senator Mark Begich  202-224-3004

Sen Jeff Bingaman  202-224-5521

Sen. Robert C. Byrd   202-224-3954

Sen. Susan M. Collins   202-224-2523

Sen. Kent Conrad   202-224-2043

Sen. Byron L. Dorgan  202-224-2551

Sen. Michael B. Enzi  202-224-3424

Sen. Charles E. Grassley  202-224-3744

Sen. Kay Hagan  202-224-6342

Sen. Mary L. Landrieu  202-224-5824

Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman  202-224-4041

Sen. Blanche L. Lincoln  202-224-4843

Sen. Claire McCaskill  202-224-6154

Sen. E. Benjamin Nelson  202-224-6551

Sen. Mark Pryor  202-224-2353

Sen. Olympia J. Snowe  202-224-5344

Sen. Arlen Specter  202-224-4254

Sen. Jon Tester  202-224-2644

Sen. Mark Warner  202-224-2023

Sen. James H. Webb Jr.  202-224-4024



The health care “reform” legislation that is moving through the Senate Finance Committee fails to


offer the common sense reforms our system needs and instead decreases our health insurance

choices and makes health care more expensive with higher taxes.

TELL YOUR SENATORS:


Riddled with Taxes: This legislation is riddled with tax hikes. They start by taxing those

earning over $10,831 year who don’t buy health insurance $750—a tax that escalates to

$3,800 as income rises. Health insurance, health care devices and drugs are also taxed,

adding to the cost of health care, and decreasing the competitiveness of these businesses.


Medicare Cuts: The bill cuts $500 billion in Medicare spending, including over $130

billion in cuts to Medicare Advantage and nearly $120 billion in Medicare cuts for hospitals

that care for seniors. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says they “expected the

Medicare Advantage plans to lose 2.7 million enrollees over the next decade” as a result.


Raises Insurance Prices: CBO also finds “premiums in the new insurance exchanges

would tend to be higher than the average premiums in the current-law individual market…”


Force, Not Choice: This legislation includes an “individual mandate” forcing all Americans

to purchase health insurance, like the Massachusetts law. Taxpayer subsidies will be given

to those earning up to three times the federal poverty level. Those not qualifying for

subsides will be taxed up to $3,800 if they do not buy insurance. The experience in

Massachusetts has left those caught inbetween unable to afford insurance and having to pay

the tax.


Big Insurance Boondoggle: Forcing all the uninsured into insurance could bring as much as

$200 billion a year in new premiums to insurance companies, including $465 billion in

subsidies over 10 years.


Privacy Violation: This legislation would allow law enforcement agencies such as the FBI

and the Department of Justice unprecedented unfettered access to medical records.


No Lawsuit Reform: This bill fails to curb junk lawsuits. It doesn’t even implement the

“demonstrations projects” on reform the President called for (despite the fact that states like

Mississippi have already done so and seen medical malpractice insurance premiums drop 42

percent). Instead, it will “express the Sense of the Senate that health care reform presents an

opportunity to address issues related to medical malpractice and medical liability insurance.”


Bipartisan Opposition: The only thing bipartisan about this bill is the opposition to it.


A vote for cloture on this legislation is a vote in favor of government-run health care.

We will be watching your vote closely. VOTE NO!