Health care letter to Titus

Below is another letter written to Rep Titus about health care.

I am writing you again, to urge you to make the right decision on the health care bill. You can not support this bill; this bill is bad for America, bad for Americans and bad for Nevadans. This bill does nothing to help control rising health care costs. The bill has no tort reform, has no portability or even interstate purchase of insurance policies. As a business owner, this bill will create more harm. I provide part of my employee's health insurance, under this plan I would be taxed for not providing enough insurance. So, while I'm trying to help out with their insurance, I'm going to be penalized for not providing enough insurance by having to pay a new tax. So on top of paying health care premiums I now have to pay a tax. That leaves me with a couple options; increase prices and lose more business. I could also lay off about a third of my employees to make up the difference, I could even just except it and try to still make a profit or drop the insurance that I currently provide to them. The option I will follow is laying off more workers, adding to the staggering number of people that are unemployed as well as dropping the insurance I provide to them.

Besides the fact that this health care reform does little to actually reform the problems with the health care industry, it is unconstitutional. As a former history teacher, I have read the Constitution, I have taught the Constitution and no where in the document that our country was founded on, does it give the power to anyone to make Americans purchase a good or service. No where in the Constitution does it allow for health care, taking my money to pay for someone else violates my right to private property and my general welfare. How come that hasn't come up in the debate? Senators DeMint and Ensign had it right when they brought the unconstitutionality of the health care bill to the Senate floor. Failure to keep health insurance will now be a crime, enforced by the IRS. Penalties include fines and jail time. So now anyone that doesn't pay for their health care is a criminal? That is not my America, it shouldn't be anyone's.

Another problem with this bill is when it starts. I have to start paying taxes and fees on this bill 4 years before its implemented. No wonder it came under a $1 trillion, that's easy to do if you collect money for 10 years but only pay for 6. What happens to my employees? I mentioned that to stay in business I would drop my insurance plan that I provide to my employees. If I drop my insurance when the taxes kick in, my employees would have to wait 4 years to get affordable coverage, how does that help? What about all the cuts to Medicare? How does that help improve the quality of health care?

Health care does need reform, but real reform. You can't throw some massive 2,000 page bill at it and hope it makes it better. The only thing this bill does is create more beaucracy, more taxes and more government mandates. Health care is far too important; it should be handled slowly and with purpose. Break it down into smaller bills, one to reform that abuse and fraud, one to address costs, one to address tort reform. There are many constitutional ways to reform health insurance. Cramming a half baked scheme past an unwilling public is not the way America is designed to work.

You still have a chance to make it right, do not support this. If you cave in a vote for the party again, I will do everything in my power to make sure you don't get another trip to Washington. I will actively campaign against you; beat the sidewalks to let everyone know how you stand. This bill is bad for America, you must stop it.