Senator Roberts supports reforming the health care system to lower costs and cover more Americans, but in a way that protects the doctor-patient relationship, doesn’t raise taxes on Kansas families and businesses and doesn’t risk the stability of our rural hospitals.

During recent debate, Roberts offered three measures to:

1) Strike the tax on medical devices

2) Protect patients from government rationing, and

3) Exempt rural critical access hospitals from future Medicare payment cuts.

The amendments were all defeated by party line votes. Roberts strongly opposes the health care reform signed into law by President Obama. With the bill’s enactment, there will be some dramatic changes for Kansas families, including the following:

1) Every Kansan’s share of the national debt will increase when you include the cost of paying doctors to see Medicare patients.

2) $8,470 in new government spending for every Kansan. (1)

3) 44,000 Kansans enrolled in Medicare Advantage will have their benefits reduced by half according to the CBO director. (2)

4) Approximately 1 million Kansas households making less than $200k will pay higher taxes, based on estimates by the Joint Committee on Taxation. (3)

5) 182,000 Kansans in the individual health insurance market will see premium rate increases of up to 49% based upon a BlueCross/BlueShield study and other analysis. (4)

6) Kansas small businesses employing 50 or more people, and 2,956 Kansas construction companies employing 5 or more, will pay either higher health care costs or a new penalty because of new government mandates. (5)

7) 194,000 Kansas college students will be overcharged an average $1,860 on their student loans to fund health care and other government programs. (6)

8) $136 million in new costs to Kansas (due to the Medicaid expansion) will force the governor and legislature to raise taxes, raise college tuition, decrease the quality of education, or all three. (7)

9) The youngest 30% of Kansans will pay 35% more as premiums go up in the individual market. (8)

10) 116,000 low-income Kansans will be added to the Kansas Medicaid program even though only 50 percent of doctors nationally are willing to see new Medicaid patients. (9)

Roberts believes we should repeal the recently enacted health care bill and replace it with solutions that will help insure more Americans, including:

•Small business health plans

•Health Savings Accounts

•Purchase insurance cross state lines

•Limit junk lawsuits against doctors

•State incentives to lower costs

•Reduce waste, fraud, and abuse

1. $2.6 trillion cost/307 million Americans/2.8 million Kansans

2. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services

3 The Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that 73 million households making less than $200k will pay higher taxes under this bill. Kansas has 1.1 million households, 97% of which earn under $200k according to the U.S. Census.

4 6.5% of 2.8 million Kansans purchase health insurance in the individual market

5 U.S. Census

6 Average Kansas student debt of $20,585 at 6.8% interest (gov’t int. rate) vs. 5.3% (Alexander amendment)

7 FFIS is a joint subscription service of the National Governors Association and the National Conference of State Legislatures to track and report on the fiscal impact of federal budget and policy decisions on state budgets and programs.

8 Oliver Wyman report on the Impact of Health Insurance Reforms

9 Health Management Associates report

To listen to audio of the health care reconciliation vote, visit: http://src.senate.gov/public/_files/radio/robertsactuality032610.mp3 . To follow Senator Roberts on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SenPatRoberts . To watch Senator Roberts on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/SenPatRoberts . 

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