| Springfield, MO – Billy Long remarked upon House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s 1,990 page health care proposal, saying, “Yesterday’s revised health care proposal released by Speaker Nancy Pelosi is just as bad as the original HR 3200. This bill does nothing but interfere with the relationship between patients and their physician. Government should not have a role in every part of our lives. Regrettably, it has become clear that liberal Democrats do not share this belief. All this bill will do is lead to rationed care, a decrease in physicians, and a massive increase to the already nearly $12 trillion national debt.”
He continued, “Instead of trying to force a bill that is 1,990 pages long and eight inches tall through the House next week, why not spread it out over a couple of weeks by having eight separate votes on one-inch bills? That would allow the public and members of Congress to take the time to read the legislation, debate all of the contents, and see what is really going on. If this bill were any good, the process would be transparent. Instead, the liberals are trying to use political chicanery to force their big-government agenda through Congress. I just hope they don’t decide to drop another several-hundred-page amendment the night before the vote like they did with cap and trade.”
Instead of the liberals’ government-centric approach, Long supports free market measures that would reduce health care costs by creating tax credits to allow families to purchase health insurance that works for them, allowing state-to-state portability of coverage to create more competition, and allowing high-risk people who have difficulty getting insurance to pool together to purchase insurance. He also supports Small Business Health Plans, which would allow small businesses to pool together to purchase insurance, giving them the same negotiating power as larger corporations and allowing them to negotiate more-favorable rates.
In addition, Long supports focusing on integrating information technology into the health care system by digitizing records to reduce administrative costs, allow physicians to have ready access to important patient records, and make treatment more efficient.
Editor's note: Broker, auctioneer and president of Real Estate Auction Specialists of Springfield, Long is a Republican candidate for the 7th Congressional seat currently held by Congressman Roy Blunt.
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