Letter To General Republican Colleagues

Letter

Today, Congressman Cassidy (R-Baton Rouge) and the GOP Health Care Solutions Group sent the following letter to the to their Republican colleagues outlining the group's vision for health care reform:
May 6, 2009

Dear Republican Colleague,

We all know that American families are worried about health care. We hear constantly from families and small businesses in our Congressional Districts about rising costs and fears of losing coverage. Republicans want to ensure that every American has access to affordable, high-quality health coverage. To that end, we, as Members of the House Republican Health Care Solutions Group, want to update you on the work that we are doing on this issue, and to seek your input as we go forward.

As we put together our Republican vision of health care reform, we've been looking at solutions to:

1. Make quality health care coverage affordable and accessible for every American, regardless of pre-existing health conditions.
2. Protect Americans from being forced into a new government-run health care plan that would: a) eliminate the health coverage that more than 100 million Americans currently receive through their job; b) limit your choice of doctors and medical treatment options; and c) result in the federal government taking control of your health care.
3. Let Americans who like their health care coverage keep it, and give all Americans the freedom to choose the health plan that best meets their needs.
4. Ensure that medical decisions are made by patients and their doctors, not government bureaucrats.
5. Improve Americans' lives through effective prevention, wellness, and disease management programs, while developing new treatments and cures for life-threatening diseases.

We know that a government takeover of health care will raise taxes, ration care, let government bureaucrats make decisions that should be made by families and doctors, and eliminate the health coverage that more than 100 million Americans currently rely on. Just last week Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) suggested that a government option will help destroy the private health care coverage that millions of Americans rely on today.

This process is far from over, and as the Health Care Solutions Group continues to work on developing a House Republican reform plan, we want to make sure we hear from you. The Whip office will be setting up briefings to discuss the issue over the next two weeks and get your input before we finalize our House Republican health care plan. The more input we get, the better plan we will develop. Thank you, and we look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO)
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)
Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA)
Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX)
Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA)
Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA)
Rep. Robert Wittman (R-VA)
Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ)
Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX)
Rep. Wally Herger (R-CA)
Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI)
Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL)
Rep. Tom Price (R-GA)
Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R-CA)
Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX)
Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO)
Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS)
Rep. Nathan Deal (R-GA)
Rep. Judy Biggert (R-IL)
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)