MY RESPONSE TO IL SENATOR DICK DURBIN

Senator Dick Durbin
309 Hart Senate Building
Washington, DC 20510

Good morning Mr. Durbin:

I am writing in response to the letter you send me via email dated April 26th 2010. I have chosen to dissect your letter in paragraph format to respond to the statement you made, which I assume are based on emotion and not fact. I will begin in the second paragraph in which you stated…

“When the new law is fully implemented, it will cut the federal budget deficit by an estimated $143 billion in the first ten years and $1.3 trillion in the second ten years. It will prevent consumers from arbitrary rate hikes and denials of coverage by insurance companies as broad insurance reforms are implemented, and it will extend the solvency of the Medicare program by nearly ten years and strengthen the Medicaid program.”

I am shocked that anyone in Congress is still stating that it will yield a federal deficit reduction of $1.3 trillion. To make a statement such as this you must be referring to the initial CBO score which is months old and did NOT include the following expenses…

1) $70 Billion for the “Class ACT”
2) $53 Billion that will be taken from the Social Security Trust Fund
3) $71 Billion in appropriations needed to enforce the purchase of insurance and administer the new legislation ($10 Billion for 16,500 new IRS agents and 159 new Federal Agencies)
4) $398 Billion that will be taken from the Medicare Trust Fund
5) $208 Billion for the “doctor fix” that was passed on April 1, 2010 AFTER the Patient Protection and Affordable Care act was signed into law on March 23, 2010.
When these expenditures are added back in to the cost of the PPACA, the legislation actually creates a $662 Billion NEW DEFICIT over the first decade alone. This being the case, it is fiscally IMPOSSIBLE for this legislation to cut the federal deficit by $1.3 Trillion.

In addition to this, the new legislation requires taxes and fees to begin immediately. However, the new health insurance purchase subsidies for families making up to $88,000 are deferred, so that the first decade of revenue is used to pay for only SIX years of spending.

In paragraph four you state “All plans will be prohibited from dropping people because they get sick.”

It is already illegal in ALL 50 STATES to “drop” a policyholder’s coverage when they make a claim or get sick. In fact, the only time a policy RESCISSION can occur is in the case of fraud. This means when the policyholder did not disclose a condition that existed PRIOR to the policy purchase. RESCISSIONS are ONLY ALLOWED by the State Insurance Commissioner if such a “pre-existing” condition was severe enough to have warranted that the applicant be declined coverage had he or she disclosed the condition at the time of application. To state that an insurance company can simply “drop” you, because you get sick is simply untrue.

In paragraph six you state “this legislation is a step forward that will expand coverage to Americans who would otherwise be uninsured while moderating the rising cost of health insurance and protecting those with existing coverage.”

We already have STATE RUN high risk insurance pools in 35 states. Ten states guarantee issue mandates. In our home state of Illinois, we have our own risk pool known as the Illinois Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan (ICHIP). If you visit www.chip.state.il.us. You will find a premium calculator. You will see that a 40 year old male can get coverage for as little as $235 per month regardless of health conditions.

As far as the “moderating the rising cost of health insurance”, the bill did little to address that. So little that on Tuesday April 27th Senate Democrats were trying to pass a new bill that would impose price controls on insurance. (Wall Street Journal Article). ObamaCare includes several new cost-driving mandates that take effect immediately, including expanding family coverage for children as old as 26 and banning consumer co-payments for preventive care. Democrats are bragging about these "benefits," but they aren't free and their cost will be built into premiums. And those are merely teasers for the many Washington-created dysfunctions that will soon distort insurance markets, says the Journal.

I do not know if you read the 2074 page bill or not, I would hope you did as my Senator. I for one DID read it. While there are some good things in the bill, overall this is a bad law for our country.



Respectfully,


Eric Wilson
Office: 815-372-1363
Toll Free: 888-448-5370
Mobile: 815-258-1140
www.isellhealth.net
isellhealth@gmail.com
“I work for you!”