Hi. I'm From the Government, and I'm Here to Help

Here is a non-exhaustive list explaining why the mild-mannered Wall Street Journal called the House health care bill "the worst bill ever." This bill is due to be voted on this weekend, and it must be stopped for the sake of our country.

1. It is 1,990 pages of incomprehensible jargon. The bill has only been out for a week, and it is a safe bet most congressmen who are voting for it have not and will not read it.
2. It costs $1.3 trillion dollars over the first 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Pelosi claims it only costs $900 billion, but she is playing games and excluding numerous real costs of the bill.
3. The true 10-year cost of the bill is hidden because most of the costs of the program do not take effect for several years. From the time the full provisions of the bill go into effect, it will cost $1.8 trillion, increase taxes by $1.1 trillion, and take $800 billion from Medicare over the first 10 years.
4. It heavily subsidizes health insurance for people earning 150%-400% of the poverty level -- people who don't need the government to pay for their health insurance.
5. It cuts Medicare reimbursement rates to doctors by 21.5% and increasing, which accounts for for supposedly $250 billion of cost savings in the bill. Such regulations have repeatedly failed to slow rising costs in the past.
6. It cuts Medicare by over $400 billion, including $175 billion from Medicare Advantage, a program which gives seniors private insurance options.
7. It expands Medicaid coverage to everyone up to 150% of the poverty level.
8. It establishes a new government insurance commissioner and a board of federal bureaucrats, which equates to a government takeover of the insurance industry.
9. This new government health care board will decide what private insurers must cover and what they must charge. It will mandate that insurers offer coverage at virtually the same price to everyone, regardless of medical history. Of course, these mandates and regulations will cause health insurance costs to skyrocket.
10. It prohibits the sale private health insurance to individuals beginning in 2013, meaning that individuals will be forced to buy health coverage through the federal government.
11. It levies about $575 billion in new taxes, including taxes on certain insurance policies.
12. It imposes a 5.4% tax on individuals earning more than $500,000, bringing the top marginal income tax rate to 45% (not including other phase-outs of tax deductions/exemptions & state income taxes). It is NOT indexed for inflation, so more and more people will fall under this tax in the future.
13. More than 50% of this 5.4% tax burden will fall on small businesses (S corporations and LLC's). It has been estimated this tax could cost up to 5.5 million jobs.
14. It imposes an 8% of payroll penalty on all but the smallest businesses that fail to pay at least 72.5% of their employees' health insurance premiums (and the health insurance must be government-approved). This provision would destroy job creation and economic growth, only making our terrible employment situation worse.
15. It imposes a 2.5% of AGI tax on people who don't buy insurance, even if they make less than $250,000 per year (breaking an Obama promise).
16. It requires the use of taxpayer dollars to fund abortion through the government-run plan. There are no opt-out provisions, meaning that people would be forced to pay for abortions with their premiums.
17. It creates a "public option," a new government-run health plan that would force private companies to compete against the government and would cause over 100 million people to lose private insurance coverage in the future.
18. It exempts Congress from being covered by this plan.
19. There are no provisions to prevent the government plan from denying access to life-savings treatments on cost grounds. Britain's National Health Service already does this.
20. It will inevitably result in the rationing of health care as our government drowns in debt more and more. The elderly are most at risk.
21. It is full of budget gimmicks that make costs look lower than they actually are. For example, some costs like the repeal of the sustainable growth rate formula are pushed into separate pieces of legislation to make this bill look less costly.
22. It is full of pork and special benefits to particular interest groups.
23. As a result of the tax increases in this bill, a Harvard economist estimates that the average taxpayer will see his taxable income fall by 17%.
24. It fails to include any reform of the current medical malpractice liability system, even though this is a significant reason why health care costs are so high.
25. It fails to allow individuals to purchase health coverage across state lines, which would enable 12 million more Americans to purchase health insurance.
26. It is opposed by a vast majority of doctors, as well as a clear majority of Americans.
27. It is far worse than an alternative Republican plan, which would cost $60 billion with no new taxes and no funds taken from Medicare, yet would still increase insurance coverage and would lower insurance premiums by 3-10%. Which bill would you prefer, one that costs less and reduces insurance costs, or one that costs far far more and increases insurance costs?

In summary, this bill would destroy our excellent health care system, increase already high unemployment, stunt economic growth, vastly increase the deficit, and vastly increase government control over our lives. We must stop this bill from becoming law, and give early retirement to any congressmen who votes for it.