From the office of Congressman Andy Harris:
Rep. Andy Harris, M.D., released the following statement regarding the second anniversary of President Obama’s health care law:
“Two years ago, President Obama and Nancy Pelosi claimed that Obamacare would lower health care costs and immediately create 400,000 jobs. All it has actually done is raise health care premiums by over $2,000 and, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, potentially reduce the labor supply by 800,000 jobs, as a result of additional new taxes on business. The House voted to repeal the President’s Medicare rationing board –the IPAB- this week, but we must continue to be committed to repealing all of the dangerous and costly Obamacare law.”
House Votes to Repeal President Obama’s Medicare Rationing Board
The House voted to repeal President Obama’s Medicare rationing board known as the Independent Payment Advisory Board or IPAB. The panel of 15 unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats’ sole purpose would be to cut funding for Medicare. Even though the board would make important medical decisions, it is expressly forbidden from having members who are active health care providers.
“Buried deep in the President’s 2,000 page health care bill, was one of Nancy Pelosi’s “you have to pass the bill to know what’s in it” surprises-the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB),” said Rep. Andy Harris, M.D. “It’s an unelected, unaccountable, 15 member rationing board appointed by the President, for the sole purpose of cutting Medicare. A Federal Government bureaucrat has no place in your doctor-patient relationship and that’s why we must repeal the IPAB as soon as possible.”
What? No government freebies? No handouts? Obama voters are not happy about this Congressman Harris! By the way, where my check?
So glad that the guy with free health insurance wants to take coverage away from others. Brilliant.
Perhaps you should change your nom de plume to Whine Fan.
Wine Fan: Members of Congress don’t get free health insurance and Harris doesnt take the coverage, but as a liberal you have no obligation to let actual facts get in the way.
Folks like Wine Fan don’t deal in facts…too troublesome, and most of the time does not fit the story line/agenda. Facts just get in the way.
@REALITY AND MIKE……REP HARRIS DOES TAKE THE GOV HEALTH INSURANCE AND RAISED A FUSS WHEN HE HAD TO WAIT FOR IT.MAYBE YOU GUYS SHOULD STICK TO COMMENTING ON SHERIFF BANE. REP HARRIS IS ONLY INTERESTED IN HIMSELF AND NOT THE COMMON MAN. BEFORE YOU SAY IT, “I AM A REPUBLICAN AND NOT A LIBERAL!”
District One,
Mr. Harris declined the Health Insurance available to all Federal Employees, and retained the previous held Blue Cross/Blue Shield insurance he had prior to his election to congress. Feel free to look it up yourself, it is a simple process.
Real Republicans do not shout. Real Republicans know where the shift key is located. Real Republicans are civil.
YEAH OK…LIKE I SAID…KEEP MAKING COMMENTS ABOUT SHERIFF BANE AND DON’T TRY FEDERAL POLITICIANS……BTW….REAL REPUBLICANS DON’T CARE WHAT GARBAGE IS PUT ON HERE AND PEOPLE THINK IT’S TRUTH….LIKE I SAID….STAY WITH LOCAL POLITICS….
He declined the insurance. Here is one reference for you.
http://insurance.families.com/blog/representative-andy-harris-declines-his-health-insurance#
There are many other references should you care to read them.
There was an article in the Dagger, shortly after Mr Harris was elected, in which he stated he was irate that he had to wait 30 days before he could use his healthcare. What has changed since that story? Has Mr Harris announced that he will not a be a hypocrite and take his health care because he knows his healthcare is more favorable than people who have to wait six months or more to use theirs?
Members of Congress have good health insurance by any standard, but it’s not free and not reserved only for them – and it’s not government insurance. House and Senate members are allowed to purchase private health insurance offered through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, which covers more than 8 million other federal employees, retirees and their families.
It’s not a “single-payer” system where the government acts as the one and only health insurance company. As President Bush’s chief of personnel Kay Coles James said in 2003, while lecturing at the conservative Heritage Foundation, “the FEHB program is not centralized, government-run health care.” It has drawn praise both from conservatives and liberals, including President Obama, who held it up as a model for his own health care proposals.
According to the Congressional Research Service, the FEHBP offers about 300 different private health care plans, including five government-wide, fee-for-service plans and many regional health maintenance organization (HMO) plans, plus high-deductible, tax-advantaged plans. All plans cover hospital, surgical and physician services, and mental health services, prescription drugs and “catastrophic” coverage against very large medical expenses. There are no waiting periods for coverage when new employees are hired, and there are no exclusions for preexisting conditions. The FEHBP negotiates contracts annually with all insurance companies who wish to participate. There is plenty of competition for the business; FEHBP is the largest employer-sponsored health plan in the U.S.
Rep Harris is attempting to take away healthcare from individuals who have no dependents and are low income/or work for employers who don’t offer healthcare.
Why do we need Obama care? We have private health care for people who can afford it. We have Medicade for the poor and Medicare for the seniors and SSI for others. Who’s left? Oh yea, the illegals.We’ve got to take care of them.We also need Obama care so the government. has another way to keep us dependent on them. You have to love our geniuses in congress. They pass a bill which none of them have read. As Polosi said “we have to pass this bill so we can understand it. Brilliant.
Those who fall between “those who can afford it” and the poor are the ones who are at risk. I think you would be amazed at their numbers. I am concerned about them. Are you?
The headline should read: “Rep. Harris: ‘…We Must Continue to be Committed to making sure insurance companies can deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions and that parents of children under the age of 26 no longer are able to keep their children on their health plans.'”
Tom Myers
President, Young Democrats of Harford County
25 year olds are not children.
If you are 25 1/2 are you still a child? Why not make it 50 yrs old to stay on your parents health plan? Be it the parents or the taxpayer someone is going to pay for Obama care. More socialized medicine from the king of socialism.
D1 – public record; Rep. Harris has declined his federal health insurance to which he is eligible. Repeating lies does not make them any more true. Look it up.
Look it up….you would see he took it.
I did. He does not use the federal health insurance. See links provided above in my previous posts.
ALL of the above comments are DASHED if you saw the video(taken by cellphone inside the Capitol for new members)! Your view of Andy may be decreased a little.
I applaud his website for showing both pro and con response.
Sincerely,
Doc Moz
Whether he took the plan offered to congressmen or no has no bearing on this issue from a legislative standpoint. Read the d@mned document and listen to the pros and cons – it is a rotten piece of legislation that absolutely infringes on ALL of our rights as US citizens. So when you next hear a liberal sqwauking about the Patriot Act, please confirm their displeasure with obamacare – this makes the Patriot Act look like backyard fun. It must be repealed. Now we’re turning to the Supreme Court to rule on it’s constitutionality – lovely, more legislation from the bench! Congress needs to make our laws – this one happens to be horrible to all, equally.
The problem with Andy Harris is that he is a conservative. That means the Dem/Libs hate him. When he says something that makes sense they hate him even more. If he tells the truth they call it a lie. In their eyes the man can do nothing right. Too bad for the Dem/Libs. They can’t do anything about it other than throw the occasional tantrum. They make me laugh because I could never take them seriously. When I need a good laugh I read what they say about Congressman Harris, the man who represents them in Washington. Whether they like it or not.
Andy Harris has said something that makes sense?
Obamacare was front-loaded with all the goodies that would appeal to the entitlement-minded and the other stuff that’s not so desireable won’t kick in until – you guessed it! – AFTER the election!
These are things like what Obamacare would ACTUALLY cost, the rising cost of private insurance (which I experience every January!) and the loss of jobs by businesses who just can’t afford the costs OR the penalties.
Oh, and let’s not forget the businesses who will pay the $2,000 per employee fine and drop their health coverage, leaving them to the mercies of the “exchanges”.
Let’s face it – socialized medicine is just that………”socialism”. And it’s happening right in front of us all! As a young child in school, studying Communism, I learned that the first line of attack by Communists was on religion. Once that was marginalized or wiped out, the rest was much easier. Obamacare evidently does both as we’ve seen it unfold. It attacks private enterprise and through it’s dictates violates our freedom of religion.
Just remember that when you vote in November you’re voting for Socialism vs. American Democracy, you’re not voting for an individual. No matter how “personable” you might find Obama, it’s not worth losing our American identity and culture and that’s what will happen if he gets a chance to finsih what he statted.