ALG Urges Members of Senate to Return Home, Listen to Constituents Before Voting on "Public Option"

"The U.S. spends more on health care than any other nation, and more than 280 million Americans already have access to health care. There is no health care 'crisis,' and therefore no urgency to act on this legislation before the end of the year." – ALG President Bill Wilson

ALG Urges Members of Senate to Return Home, Listen to Constituents
Before Voting on "Public Option"

December 1st, 2009, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today urged members of the U.S. Senate to return to their home states and "listen to their constituents over the holiday recess before voting on whether to move the $2 trillion 'public option' off the floor."

"Members of the Senate should hold things up until after the holidays," said Wilson, adding, "because the Majority obviously has not yet gotten enough of an earful of public outrage over the loss of trillions of dollars, rationing of health care away from seniors, raising the cost of premiums, driving the American people off of private health options, and bankrupting the Treasury."

In the latest Rasmussen Reports poll, 53 percent of voters surveyed say they oppose the plan. Only 41 percent support it.

"Based on poll after poll conducted, the American people have very strong reservations about this legislation. In its current form, they do not support it. Under the circumstances, it is perfectly legitimate for Senators to slow things down and gauge whether the public really supports nationalizing the U.S. health system—the best in the world," Wilson explained.

"The U.S. spends more on health care than any other nation, and more than 280 million Americans already have access to health
care. There is no health care 'crisis,' and therefore no urgency to act on this legislation before the end of the year," Wilson added.

As of 2006, the Census Bureau estimates that some 201.7 million, or 71.5 percent of Americans with health insurance, get their insurance privately. 28.5 percent of those with insurance, or 80.3 million, get it from the government. All together, the U.S. spent $2.4 trillion in total health care spending in 2007.

"Making matters worse, the so-called 'public option' proposed will do nothing to contain the growing health costs, and instead will put upward pressure on the price of insurance premiums," said Wilson, citing a recent Congressional Budget Office study.According to the study, "Average premiums per policy in the non-group market would in 2016 would be roughly $5,800 for single policies and $15,200 for family policies under the proposal, compared with roughly $5,500 for single policies and $13,100 for family policies under current law."

The Senate version of the "public option" will start operating at massive budget-busting deficits starting in 2015, according to an Americans for Limited Government analysis of Congressional Budget Office data. By 2019, the "public option" will have spent some $361 billion more than it took in via new taxes.

"There really is no harm in waiting," Wilson said, concluding, "More than anything, the American people do not understand the bum's rush to pass this abomination in accordance with a political
timetable. They want Senators to listen to them, not to their party
leadership."