Following the Democrats introduction of a health care bill that will not only increase the cost of health care but will limit choice, Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) issued the following statement:
"I've hosted a total of eight town halls since Congress began debating health care reform this year and at each of those town halls an overwhelming majority of my constituents have expressed very serious concerns regarding government run healthcare.
"At one of those town halls I had a doctor stand up and show me thousands and thousands of pages of a nuisance lawsuit he currently faces. It has been estimated that roughly $200 billion every year is spent on additional unnecessary medical tests to avoid frivolous lawsuits. This translates to the average American family paying an additional $2,000 per year in healthcare costs.
"Limiting medical liability exposure for our doctors would go a long way toward solving the problems that plague our system and would not add to an out of control budget deficit.
"There are real reforms needed in our healthcare sector, but the public healthcare option will do more harm than good. Take, for instance, the costs to small businesses to provide coverage for their employees. According to a recent report from the National Small Business Association, by allowing small business owners to join buying pools to reduce the cost of health insurance we could reduce health insurance plan costs for small businesses by as much as 12 percent and reduce the number of the uninsured by one million.
"It is disappointing that despite American's concerns the Democrat Leadership has drafted a bill behind closed doors and ignored the voices of constituents across the nation as they push forward on a government take over of health care. At a cost of nearly one trillion dollars, only partly paid for through Medicare cuts and higher taxes, it adds to the deficit at a time when we're already running one and a half trillion in red ink annually."
