Health care

[NWTFhunter]

Under the guise of helping children without health insurance, theHouse of Representatives voted 289 to 139 last week in favor of amassive expansion of the State Children's Health InsuranceProgram (SCHIP) - paving the way for a government-run, universalhealthcare system and dramatically increasing the cost of this programto you, me, and all taxpayers! Our last line of defense against those who want to impose socialist,Canadian-style healthcare on this country is the Senate, which isexpected to consider SCHIP legislation as early as next week. Itis urgent that you tell your U.S. Senators today to oppose theexpansion of SCHIP and the tax increases that would be required to payfor it

SCHIP was originally designed to help low-income families who earn toomuch to qualify for Medicaid gain access to health insurance for theirchildren. The legislation approved by the House would increasethe SCHIP income eligibility cap from the current 200 percent of thefederal poverty line ($42,400 in annual income for a family of four)to 300 percent of the federal poverty line ($63,600 in annual income),making the eligibility ceiling for this "low-income"program higher than the median household income in this country. What's more, states can apply for a federal waiver to raise theceiling even higher! The House bill would more than double spending on SCHIP from $25billion to $60 billion over four-and-a-half years. It would alsopermit states to cover legal aliens under SCHIP and Medicaid withoutthe customary five-year waiting period established by the 1996 welfarereform law. In addition, the SCHIP legislation does nothing toprevent parents from transferring their children from privateinsurance plans to the taxpayer-funded program. According to theCongressional Budget Office, 2.4 million individuals could leaveprivate insurance and join a government-run plan if this bill becomeslaw. To pay for this big-government healthcare expansion, its advocateshave proposed increasing the federal cigarette excise tax by 156percent. Trust me, this will be just the first of many taxincreases to come as SCHIP, like virtually every other entitlementprogram before it, ends up costing more than expected and sucking upincreasing amounts of your tax dollars!

after the failure ofHillaryCare in the 1990s, the universal healthcare proponents havewised up. They know they can't impose a governmenttakeover of America's healthcare system - and the massive taxincreases needed to pay for it - all at once without provoking aresounding public outcry. Instead, they've adopted anincremental approach, where they will slowly expand existinggovernment healthcare programs until they crowd out privateinsurance.  The backers of this plan think they can make all Americans dependenton the government for our healthcare before we know what hit us! Please tell your Senators today to oppose the expansion of SCHIP andthe tax increases that would pay for it!

So here is the web adress for Wa state congress persons.
I would hope that all of you contact them and tell them that we dont want to support this.

Patty Murry    http://murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm
Maria Cantwell  http://cantwell.senate.gov/contact/
Doc Hastings  http://hastings.house.gov/ContactForm.aspx

[WDFW Hates ME!!!]

I am not a lib, or a dem but how is creating a program that will help uninsured children get medical care a bad thing??? The children do not get to choose when and if they go to the doctor the uninsured parents do.
I do not want my taxes to increase like everybody else but i am trying to get an understanding on why insuring children is bad.
I also feel that the medical care in this country is a waste. There are people out there that can not afford the medicines they need to keep them alive and they are risking there lives to put food on the table for there families instead of medicine in there bodies.

I don't know what the fix is but i look at both sides of the issue before passing judgement.

[NWTFhunter]

Because this is just an enormous waste of taxpayer money!  It has ballooned from an estimated cost of 25 billion to 75 billion !!  What will this do?  It will take monies right out of your paycheck to pay for it.  Do you realize that this covers illegal aliens and all their children ?  Why in the hell should we be held accountable to pay for them ??

When the cost of this goes beyond their proposals, who is going to pay for it ?  You and I.

No thank you !!!!!!!

[Machias]

I am not a lib, or a dem but how is creating a program that will help uninsured children get medical care a bad thing??? The children do not get to choose when and if they go to the doctor the uninsured parents do.
I do not want my taxes to increase like everybody else but i am trying to get an understanding on why insuring children is bad.
I also feel that the medical care in this country is a waste. There are people out there that can not afford the medicines they need to keep them alive and they are risking there lives to put food on the table for there families instead of medicine in there bodies.

I don't know what the fix is but i look at both sides of the issue before passing judgement.

I'd be all for it, if you could tell me one Government run program that not only works but does it cheaper then the private sector....Just one.

[GoldTip]

From an insiders point of view in regards to healthcare, this would be an absolute nightmare. 

[NWTFhunter]

There isnt on Machias !  Look at the health care reform package the they are trying in Ma. the people there hate it !
They want it done away with because it is costing them hundreds of dollars more in health care.

[Machias]

My wife is British, so I have seen national health care first hand, it is a travesty for all involved.

[NWTFhunter]

It costs taxpayers ungodly amounts of monies.  Yes they are going to say it will be payed for by taxing smokes right now.... But your crazy if you think that is the only place they are going to get the money to pay for this. 

[WDFW Hates ME!!!]

Gotcha, that is why i am asking. Havn't really paid any attention to that. SO now i will...

[NWTFhunter]

Senator Murray sent me an email today stating that she supports this bill, and has been working hard to promote it.
Guess what ? She got yet another mail from me pointing out the facts that this bills cost to the American tax payers has more than doubled from its previous forecasts !
Lets see if she again replies.