WASHINGTON - U.S. Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite (FL-District 5) released the following statement cautioning Congress that the current versions of health care reform will be devastating to Florida's small businesses, seniors and caregivers.

She is joined in this perspective by fellow members of the Florida Congressional delegation in this view.

Other members joining Browne-Waite include Sen. Mel Martinez, Reps. Jeff Miller (FL-1), Ander Crenshaw (FL-04), Cliff Stearns (FL-06), John Mica (FL-07), Gus Bilirakis (FL-09), CW Bill Young (FL-10), Adam Putnam (FL-12), Vern Buchanan (FL-13), Connie Mack (FL-14), Bill Posey (FL-15), Tom Rooney (FL-16), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL-18), Lincoln Diaz-Balart (FL-21) and Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25) as well as business and health caregiver organizations from around the state: Florida Chamber of Commerce, Florida Healthcare Association, Associated Industries of Florida and Florida small businesses.

A statement released by the group is shown below.

"We all strongly support health care reform and believe that all Americans should have access to quality and affordable healthcare. However, we do not believe that it is right to take from some of our neediest citizens as a means of funding this reform. The health care
reform bill just released by the House leadership relies on steep funding cuts to Medicare in order to fund its health care expansion.

"The bill cripples the Medicare Advantage Program by proposing to cut an additional $156 billion. As a result millions of seniors will be forced to go back to Medicare Part B. This cut is of especially grave significance to Florida's seniors: residents of Miami-Dade County could face approximately $300 extra per month in out of pocket costs, elsewhere around the state seniors could face $150 in additional monthly costs.

Seniors would also face over $400 billion in cuts to Medicare Spending over 10 years to help finance a $1 trillion addition to the federal budget. In essence, seniors who have paid into the system for their entire working lives will be asked to forgo medical care so that others may receive benefits from the government. This includes subsidizing people earning up to $88,000 per year.

"The bill also relies on steep cuts to Medicare hospitals, nursing homes and other providers. These cuts will drive away providers and reduce the quality of services to Florida's seniors. Emmett Reed, Executive Director of the Florida Health Care Association commented, "If put into effect, the Medicare regulation will slow the creation of new jobs in one of the few sectors showing job growth in Florida." He went on to say, "Skilled nursing facilities are caring for a growing number of short-stay post-acute patients at substantial savings to the Medicare program and these funding cuts could halt this movement in its tracks. These cuts are harmful to Florida seniors' growing care needs and to our state's economy and caregiver job base." We should be fixing what is broken, not decimating the care of Florida's senior population. This is change our state can't afford.

"Doctors will be forced to comply with cost cutting and rationing protocols to save money for the government and insurance companies. If they don't practice low-cost medicine the way a political committee tells them, they will be forced to leave the system - at a time when
there is already a growing shortage of physicians in Florida. In the end, the quality of patient care will suffer.

"The bill also contains a "pay-or-play requirement," forcing businesses, which are fighting to survive in a down economy, to dramatically increase their costs by providing health insurance coverage or pay a fine. The Congressional Budget Office has warned Congress that this
will result in the hiring of fewer low-wage workers. Now is not the time to enact a new tax on small-business. Dr. Michael Perlman, President of BrandsMart USA says, "It is outrageous that responsible legislators would choose to penalize independent business owners (sb-S)
and at the same time reward big business by allowing them to avoid the healthcare cost."

Below are comments from Florida's Congressional delegation

• Congresswoman Ginny Brown Waite (FL-05): "Increasing taxes and creating mandates on employers and individuals already struggling in today's economic climate will force us further away from recovery. Reducing funds to Medicare, a program barely maintaining solvency at its current funding level, is shortsighted and impractical. Health care reform is indeed necessary but will be best achieved by building on the American principles that made us the greatest nation on earth: innovation and competition."
• Congressman Jeff Miller (FL-01): "The families that I talk to in Northwest Florida have no desire for a government takeover of health care that will lead to fewer jobs, higher taxes, and no improvement in health coverage," said Miller. "Raising taxes and rationing care are not solutions."
• Congressman Ander Crenshaw (FL-04): "In a telephone town hall meeting, at a health care roundtable with hospital officials, and through phone calls, Northeast Florida seniors, small businesses, and residents are telling me loud and clear that they want health care reform, but not at the risk of a government takeover or reduced options." He went on to say, "Simply put, I agree with them and will continue the fight to ensure their views are part of the health care debate. We need to protect everyone's right to choose their own doctor and get the treatment they need when they need it. Moreover, the federal government should not be in charge of delivering health care - a move that would increase cost, lower quality, and take away patients' ability to choose."
• Congressman Cliff Stearns (FL-06): "This proposal calls for restricting funding for Medicare, threatening the care millions of seniors depend upon. In addition, having run a small business, I understand that the financial and regulatory burdens it would impose on small businesses would lead to reduced employment and lower wages. That is absolutely the wrong course of action during an economic crisis."
• Congressman Gus Bilirakis (FL-09): "I agree that we need to take action to make health insurance more affordable for all Americans. But I completely disagree with the notion that we should raise taxes and cut health care for seniors to put the government firmly in control of the U.S. health system." He went on to say, "Unfortunately the proposal presented will do nothing more than drive people into a one-size-fits-all government run system that will shift health care decisions to federal bureaucrats and drive innovation from the
  marketplace ultimately limiting choices for families. The proposed Medicare funding cuts will jeopardize the care on which many of the seniors in my district rely."

• Congressman Adam Putnam (FL-12): "It doesn't take long to understand the incredible bureaucracy that is being created by this legislation. Unfortunately, this will only further complicate an already inefficient federal government -- and do so on issues that should be decided between patients and their doctors."
• Congressman Vern Buchanan (FL-13): "We shouldn't kill jobs in the midst of a recession and threaten the commitments we have made to care for our seniors," said Congressman Vern Buchanan. "We need to improve health care without increasing taxes on small businesses and jeopardizing health care benefits for seniors."
• Congressman Connie Mack (FL-14): "Plain and simple, the Democrats' health care 'reform' legislation is nothing more than a prescription for higher taxes, more spending, and greater government control over our private lives. The people of Florida and our nation deserve better."
• Congressman Bill Posey (FL-15): "This bill would force 40,000 seniors in my district alone to give up their current Medicare Advantage plan. This bill combined with the national energy taxes just passed last month will be devastating to millions of seniors on fixed incomes. That's change they simply can't afford."
• Congressman Tom Rooney (FL-16): "I am furious that the Democrats have opted to pay for their government health care reform package on the backs of our nation's seniors. The proposal the Democrats unveiled this week includes about $500 billion in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. We should be working to stabilize the Medicare program, not reducing the benefits and quality of care our nation's 44 million seniors deserve. Our nation's seniors do not deserve to be saddled with tax increases to pay for a health care reform package that could potentially impede upon their own health care benefits."
• Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL-18): "I'm mindful of the need for real health care reform in our community that will provide access to high quality, affordable health care but this costly bill is not the answer. Let's work together in a bipartisan way to help the uninsured while not driving already hurting small businesses and hard working families further into debt"
• Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart (FL- 21): "Increasing taxes on small businesses and devastating Medicare and Medicaid, programs that work - especially for seniors and the needy - are not the ways to improve healthcare in the U.S. We should be offering individuals and small businesses tax credits to increase healthcare accessibility and affordability -not tax increases."
• Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25): "We need to provide Americans with accessible and affordable healthcare and truly reform our current system; however, this bill makes significant cuts to Medicare, jeopardizing healthcare and impacting the quality of life of our senior citizens. Unlike this bill, there are a number of good proposals that do not raise taxes on small business, increase the deficit and national debt, and further hurt the economy by causing more Americans to lose their jobs."

Browne-Watie offers the following points to consider.

• Democrats break with party to vote against $1.5 trillion health bill: In a Ways & Means Markup of H.R. 3200, Democrats Ron Kind (WI-03), Early Pomeroy (ND- At Large) and John Tanner (TN-08) joined all Republicans to oppose a government takeover of our health care system.
• Rep. Early Pomeroy (ND-At Large) opposed the bill which proposes to use Medicare reimbursements for a "public option" to compete with private insurance. Mr. Pomeroy said, "There is no way we will sustain the existing levels of care...if our health care system is to take that big a hit." (Minot Daily News )
• CBO Director says health care spending will increase significantly: In a Ways & Means Markup of H.R. 3200, Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Director Douglas Elmendorf told the committee that the legislation would expand federal spending on health care to a significant degree. To see his full comment, click here .
• Florida Hospitals Will Suffer: The Florida Hospital Association predicts that the bill will result in a loss of $2.2 billion a year for the next ten years.
• Increases Taxes for Small Business Owners: A 5.4% "surtax" would raise the current top tax rate for a successful small business owner from 35% to 46.4%, meaning the federal government will take almost half of every dollar earned by successful small business owners.
• 82% of individuals who will pay the top rate of 5.4% own small businesses.
• For a small business that earns $500,000 a year, the owner with a family of four could pay $23,750 in higher taxes, a 16% increase in Federal income taxes.
• Enacts New Taxes on Small Businesses: In addition to the "surtax", the "pay or play" mandate will force businesses with payrolls over $250,000 to either provide health insurance or pay a penalty of as much as 8% of payroll to the government.
• Two-thirds of small business employment in 2006 came from firms with 20-249 employees. As many as 16 million workers are employed by businesses potentially affected by this tax.
• Penalizes individuals if they choose not to purchase a pricey insurance plan or take the public option: Individuals who do not buy a private insurance plan or opt in to the public plan will be forced to pay a penalty of up to 2.5% of their income. This approach failed in Massachusetts where people are waiting months to see doctors, and the state has increased health care spending by $1.5 billion to pay for subsidies. The Massachusetts plan shows that more government regulation will drive up the cost of health insurance.