Victor Fazio: “I oppose this agreement because a small band of Republicans have insisted on including a provision sure to provoke a…”

“I oppose this agreement because a small band of Republicans have insisted on including a provision sure to provoke a Presidential veto. The medical savings account provision favors their wealthy patrons over those citizens in dire need of health insurance reform. This legislation began as true bipartisan effort in both houses of Congress. The bill's twin goals of affordability and portability were also supported by the President. On the night of the State of the Union address, almost 5 months ago, he promised to sign this bill in its original form. Indeed, the other body passed their version of this bill by a 100-to-0 margin. But this extremely rare example of bipartisanship was hijacked by Republicans in the House who do not seem to want reform. The MSA provision allows the healthy wealthy to opt out of the insurance pool and build up their own medical savings accounts. The result of this is that conventional insurance pools are broken up and those who are both sick and unable to afford MSA's are potentially left to fend for themselves. The long-term effect of this double affliction is to increase the number of Americans who must go without health insurance. This provision completely defeats the purpose of health insurance reform.”