Action Alert: Unacceptable Health Care Legislation Moving in U.S. House
July 23, 2009
On July 14, the America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 (H.R. 3200) was
introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Democratic leadership has indicated
it intends to bring the legislation to the House floor for a vote by July 31. NRCA
urges you to contact your representative in Congress and register your strong opposition
to this legislation.
The enactment of legislation to expand access to affordable health insurance, particularly
for small and mid-sized businesses, has been a priority for NRCA for many years.
Unfortunately, H.R. 3200 does little to address our nation's health care crisis
by implementing reforms of the private health insurance system that NRCA has been
advocating. This was confirmed last week when the nonpartisan Congressional Budget
Office testified that H.R. 3200 does not contain the “fundamental changes” necessary
to control health care costs and in fact would lead to increased spending on government
health programs, thus adding further to the already out-of-control federal deficit.
This legislation not only fails to lower health care costs, it also would increase
taxes on many small employers—our nation's primary job creators. H.R. 3200
would deal a crushing blow to small businesses if enacted.
Contact your representative and urge them to oppose H.R. 3200 because:
- It contains a destructive employer mandate combined with a punitive payroll tax
of up to 8 percent for employers who do not offer newly specified levels
of expensive coverage to employees.
- It fails to provide meaningful reform to many small businesses that now have great
difficulty in finding affordable health insurance coverage.
- The government-run health plan will destabilize the private system and shift costs
to the private sector in inefficient ways, thus hurting affordability and quality.
- The $544 billion income tax surcharge will greatly reduce after-tax profits of many
small businesses at a time when entrepreneurs are struggling to find access to capital
to sustain or expand their business.
Telephone your representative by calling the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 225-3121,
ask for your representative's office and register your "strong opposition to H.R.
3200" and cite the talking points above. Or you may contact your representative
by e-mail by going to his or her Web site; Web site addresses can be found at
www.house.gov. Another option is to e-mail or
fax a letter to your representative (
Click here to see a sample
letter).
Click here to view a target list of House Democrats who remain undecided
on this bill.
For more information or questions, please contact Duane Musser, NRCA's vice president
of government relations, at (800) 338-5765 or
dmusser@nrca.net.