Because Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles) is a stud-hoss, you can look up your district at the Energy & Commerce website and find out exactly how much their health bill would help your community out. For example, I live in Rep. Jim Gerlach’s sixth congressional district.
We’re doing pretty well. Only 58,000 people (8 percent) are going without health insurance here. Only 600 people filed for health-related bankruptcy last year, most of them ruined by health costs not covered under their crappy insurance. On the other hand, 11,900 seniors maxed-out their Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage and got hammered by the donut hole. And our local hospitals doled out $50 million in uncompensated care to the uninsured that the rest of the district had to pick up the tab for.
Passing the Energy & Commerce bill would help us significantly. For starters, it would help our small businesses.
Under the legislation, small businesses with 25 employees or less and average wages of less than $40,000 qualify for tax credits of up to 50% of the costs of providing health insurance. There are up to 16,700 small businesses in the district that could qualify for these credits.
Those 600 families that went broke paying for medical care their insurance companies stiffed them on?
The bill provides health insurance for almost every American and caps annual out-of-pocket costs at $10,000 per year, ensuring that no citizen will have to face financial ruin because of high health care costs.
The seniors in the donut hole?
Each year, 11,900 seniors in the district hit the donut hole and are forced to pay their full drug costs, despite having Part D drug coverage.
The legislation would provide them with immediate relief, cutting brand name drug costs in the donut hole by 50%, and ultimately eliminate the donut hole.
And the uninsured?
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that nationwide, 97% of all Americans will have insurance coverage when the bill takes effect. If this benchmark is reached in the district, 37,000 people who currently do not have health insurance will receive coverage.
Needless to say, the local hospitals won’t have to spend $50 million a year anymore treating the uninsured.
And the cost?
The cost of health care reform under the legislation is fully paid for: half through making the Medicare and Medicaid program more efficient and half through a surtax on the income of the wealthiest individuals. This surtax would affect only 8,580 households in the district.
The surtax would not affect 97.5% of taxpayers in the district.
So, 8,580 households in my district will see a tax increase in return for helping 16,700 small businesses give health insurance to their employees, helping 11,900 seniors to weather the donut hole, helping 600 families avoid a health-related bankruptcy, and giving 37,000 people access to health insurance. Plus, we won’t have to make up the difference anymore on $50 million of uncompensated care at our local hospitals.
No more exclusions for preexisting conditions. No more recissions of health coverage after you get sick. And, if you don’t want to buy insurance from some for-profit corporation, you may qualify to buy your insurance directly from the government.
So, why is Jim Gerlach going to vote against it?
What are the numbers in your district?
