Billy Long: This is a harmful law that destroys the quality of health care in this country

In Seventh District Congressman Billy Long's latest newsletter, he attacks the Supreme Court decision on the federal health care plan.

I was very disappointed by the United States Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Obamacare.   

At the crux of the Court’s opinion was their decision to uphold the individual mandate as constitutional.  The mandate requires virtually all Americans to purchase health care insurance and imposes a penalty on those who cannot comply.  While President Obama and the Democrats worked to pass this law, they consistently assured the American public that the penalty was not a tax.  Despite this fact, the Supreme Court held the mandate is a tax.  As a result, the Court held the mandate is constitutional under Congress’s authority to tax the public through legislation.

However, the Court also ruled the states can refuse to participate in the expansion of the Medicaid program without losing all of their funding.

The result is that beginning in 2014 many people who cannot afford health insurance will experience a tax increase.  For President Obama and Democrat leaders who claim they do not want to increase taxes on the low-income and middle class, such an increase is the exact result of their ill-advised health care reform law.

I, along with the overwhelming majority of Missourians who voted against Obamacare in August of 2010, believe this is a harmful law that destroys the quality of health care in this country.  This law enacts drastic cuts to the Medicare program and institutes a board of bureaucrats whose sole purpose is to deny care to seniors.  This law is wrong for the country and it is certainly wrong for Missourians.

Before the Supreme Court’s ruling, I took 30 votes to repeal or defund part or all of the president’s health care law.  I will continue to work to repeal the harmful aspects of this law, including the tax on the low-income and middle class, and replace it with fiscally responsible patient-centered health care.

As the American people struggle to make ends meet, too many also live with the challenge of affording basic health care for themselves and their families.

We have the finest doctors, nurses, and facilities in the world. That did not come about as a result of a government-run health care system.  As I work with my colleagues to address the cost drivers of our health care system it is imperative that we do not repeat the Democrat’s mistake of passing a massive health care bill that is not supported by the public.  We need to ensure that the American people are supportive of the changes to our nation’s health care delivery system and pass changes step by step with bills that are easy to understand and not filled with unknown negative consequences for American families and small businesses.

As we all work together in improving access to health care I believe that the American people want real solutions to get our economy back on track and bring down health care costs, not another excuse to raise taxes on small business and working families.