NRCC - Overreaching ObamaCare Not Enough for Shea-Porter, Pushes for Government Option
Friday, July 23, 2010 at 08:19AM 
House Dems Look to Open the Door to Government-Run Healthcare, Again
Washington- In a bold and potentially career-ending move, Carol Shea-Porter signed on to radical legislation aimed at amending the Democrats’ government healthcare takeover so that it includes a public option – allowing the government to exert even more control over the healthcare of New Hampshire families while forcing them out of their current coverage. Since Shea-Porter helped her party pass their partisan government takeover of healthcare in March, the new law has been met with staunch opposition. The law has left families and small businesses worried about the future of their health and financial well being as new laws, stringent regulations and taxes threaten their livelihoods. While families across the country brace for the full impact of the egregious new law, a costlier and more encroaching government-run healthcare system would deliver a blow the nation can’t afford.
“This new entitlement -- like Medicare but open to all ages and all incomes -- would quickly crowd out private insurance as people gravitated to heavily subsidized policies, eventually leading to a single-payer system…
“The Lewin Group consultants estimate that 119 million people who now have private insurance could potentially be captured by the government under the Obama public option. This is on top of the 90 million already in Medicare or Medicaid. This would guarantee a spending explosion that would over time lift federal outlays as a share of GDP into the upper 20% range or higher...This health-care debate isn't like the "stimulus" bill, which was largely about short-term spending and deficits. This one is about whether to turn 17% of the U.S. economy entirely and permanently into the arms of the government. (“Republicans and the 'Public Option,'” Wall Street Journal, 5/11/2009)
The Democrats’ healthcare bill has always been unpopular, but since passed, American’s opposition to it has continued to grow:
Forty-nine percent of Americans now disapprove of the health care reform measure, according to the poll, which was conducted July 9 - 12. Thirty-six percent support the law.
“Americans continue to see little personal benefit from the health care reform legislation. By more than two to one, Americans think it will hurt (33 percent) rather than help them (13 percent). Forty-eight percent expect the reform to have no effect on them personally…Thirty-nine percent of Americans said Mr. Obama has spent relatively too much time on health care reform. Thirty-one percent said he has spent the right amount of time on it, while 24 percent said he has spent too little time.” (Stephanie Condon, “Poll: Support For Health Care Reform Drops,” CBS, 7/13/2010)
“As if voting for her party’s already overreaching healthcare takeover wasn’t enough, Carol Shea-Porter now has her eyes on a government option which could potentially bankrupt the nation,” said NRCC Communications Director Ken Spain. “By supporting government-run healthcare, Shea-Porter would put New Hampshire families’ healthcare in the hands of bureaucrats, allowing them to decide potentially life or death health related decisions. Once again, Shea-Porter and the out-of-touch Democrat majority are attempting to force partisan policies through Congress that their constituents soundly reject.”
