BIlly Long: The American people will suffer because of this bill

Seventh District Congressional candidate Billy Long issued the following statement followed the House's passing of the Senate's healthcare bill:

In a highly debated action the House of Representatives today passed health care legislation. The widely unpopular government seizure of the medical care industry, which represents one sixth of the U.S. economy, is expected to be swiftly signed into law by the President.

“Every part of this health care proposal has been outrageous from the very beginning,” Billy Long said. “Not only is the bill itself a nine inch thick tangle of bureaucracy, the manner in which it was passed is one of the most out of touch displays of power politics ever seen in Washington. Lifetime politicians decided that they knew better than the American people and used every trick in the book to cram this bill down our throats.”

“We need true health care reform that takes into account the realities of the market,” Billy continued. “Health care needs to be portable, insurance companies should not be able to escape their contractual obligations, tort laws should be reformed, and competition should be reintroduced to the system by allowing insurance policies to be sold across state lines. That is the only way to get costs under control while retaining quality. The bill passed today won’t control costs or maintain quality and the American people will suffer because of it.”