COCHRAN TO VOTE AGAINST HEALTH CARE REFORM PACKAGE

Senate Votes Tonight on Whether or Not to Take Up 2,074-Page Reform Legislation

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) today announced that he will vote against a motion to allow the Senate to begin debate on a 2,074-page bill intended to reform the American health care system.

The Senate vote is scheduled to occur at 8 p.m. (Eastern) tonight.

Cochran, ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and its subcommittee with jurisdiction over federal health care programs, has been increasingly concerned about the impact several provisions in this legislation would have on Mississippi and the nation.

“Mississippians have been clear about their opposition to the health legislation before the Senate.  Higher insurance premiums, tax increases, unfunded Medicaid mandates and Medicare cuts to pay for more government are not their idea of responsible health care reform.  Nor is it mine,” Cochran said.

 “I continue to believe that the American health care system can be improved.  This plan, however, simply overreaches.  I am unconvinced that over the long term it will help control the ever-increasing costs of health care or improve care.  It is my hope that we can begin anew with ideas that we know will work to drive down costs for Americans and for the federal government,” he said.

On Thursday, Cochran delivered a speech to the Senate that focused on the fiscal risks associated with creating mandatory spending programs, including those proposed in health care reform bills presented in Congress.

Cochran was also among 25 Senators who sent a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid asking him to send his health care package to the Office of the Actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for analysis on the projected long-term cost impact of the Senate health care reform measure beyond the 10-year estimate offered by the Congressional Budget Office.

“I am unconvinced this bill is the best Congress can do to reform the health care system.  From the public plan option to the Medicare payroll tax, we have to ask whether Americans can afford this bill.  It also fails to address medical malpractice and medical liability insurance.  In my state, medical malpractice insurance premiums dropped 42 percent after a successful legislative tort reform effort,” Cochran said.