Political Quotes

“Many of us are concerned about the proposed mandate on our businesses to provide a comprehensive benefits package. Employers are being mandated to float money into the system only to create a bigger system, a system we cannot afford. Many of us are concerned about job loss, and projections range from 600,000 to 3 million. Jobs should not be sacrificed to furnish a health care reform proposal that will far exceed its estimated costs. We can easily look into the future of employer mandates by looking at another Government-run health care program: Medicaid. In 1966, combined Federal and State Medicaid payments were $1.7 billion. In 1992, they were $119 billion. No one came close in predicting the costs of this program. No jobs were directly eliminated to cover the program's costs, but the extensive benefits packages put an expensive burden on our States and Federal budgets. Under the President's plan, our employers are the payers, and they will pay in more ways than laying off jobs. They will pay every time Congress decides to ratchet up the comprehensive benefits package and the employer contribution. President Clinton pledged to end welfare as we know it, not end health care as we know it. We need to reform our health care system, but when enacting mandates, we must remember that employers, not just government, will be picking up the tab.”