Published: November 08, 2009 09:54 pm         

Bill is in bad health

The debate over health care has reached a fevered pitch in our nation’s capital.

Over the last several months, millions of Americans have spoken out at town halls, have called and written in to the White House and even have made personal visits to their members of Congress to express their strong opposition to government run health care.

Yet Speaker Nancy Pelosi has once again ignored their voices.

Pelosi’s health care bill H.R. 3962 was drafted without committee hearings or markups behind closed doors by Pelosi and a very limited number of her inner-circle.

Weighing in at more than 2,000 pages, Pelosi’s bill will cost the American taxpayers $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years.

 Real reform of our health care system is needed. We must help those who want health insurance but cannot afford it. We must expand access to health care in rural America. We must fix our medical malpractice laws so doctors can focus on saving patients rather than paying lawyers. And we must expand our investments in preventative care.

However, that doesn’t mean we should throw out the car because it has a soft tire.

This country still has the best doctors, the best treatments, the best researches and the best hospitals in the world.

Improvements need to be made but not at the cost of potentially destroying our current health care system, saddling our children and grandchildren with trillions of dollars of debt, decreasing our standard of care and burdening American families and small businesses with $729.5 billion in new taxes.

 I will continue to oppose Pelosi’s government run health care legislation and any legislation that comes before Congress that includes a public option.

 

Lucas represents Oklahoma’s 3rd Congressional District.