While California Moves Forward, Bush Pushes Back on Health Care
Statement of CALPIRG Health Care Advocate Emily Clayton on
President Bush’s planned health care proposals for the State of the
Union
“Just as California
and other states are preparing to take big steps forward on the path to
better regulating the health insurance industry and expanding health
care coverage, President Bush is set to propose some giant steps back
in his State of the Union address tonight.
“Instead
of tackling skyrocketing costs, poor behavior from the health care
industry’s powerful interests or the ever increasing number of the
uninsured, President Bush is planning to propose yet more tax breaks
that disproportionately favor the highest income tax brackets while
encouraging the expansion of low quality health care plans. California
leaders should ignore these flawed ideas from the Bush Administration
and move forward with a comprehensive and fair solution to rising
health care costs and diminishing quality.
“As
he has for the past several years, President Bush is pressing for more
tax breaks for Health Savings Accounts. These tax-free accounts, as
recently demonstrated in a report from the Government Accountability
Office, are disproportionately used by the wealthiest Americans and are
increasingly being used as tax shelters rather than accounts for actual
health care spending. California has already rightly rejected favorable tax treatment for these shelters.
“The
president’s proposal to tax other health care benefits is another move
away from comprehensive health care plans toward lower quality
products. While doing nothing to rein in the cost of health care, the
president’s plan penalizes workers of all income levels whose employers
provide them with generous health benefits. Our elected officials
should be pushing to contain health care costs rather than discouraging
employers from providing quality health care plans.
“America’s
health care system is broken. President Bush cannot simply tax-break
his way out of this problem. The president and Congress should work
together to lower the cost of health care, take on health care’s
powerful special interests and expand health care coverage.
“Governor
Schwarzenegger and California’s legislative leaders should reject the
bad ideas coming from the White House and keep working together to
create real health care reform that reins in the insurance industry,
lowers prices and expands coverage.”
