American Jobs And Closing Tax Loopholes Act Of 2010

Floor Speech

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Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I come to the floor today, as I have each week since the health care bill became signed into law, to visit with Members of this Chamber about experiences I have had, having practiced medicine in Casper, WY, since 1983. For a long time, I was an orthopedic surgeon taking care of families across the Cowboy State. I come today, as I have week after week, to offer a doctor's second opinion about the health care law because it seems every week since this bill has become law there is some new, unintended consequence, some new development, some new sharing of information that the American people seem to say: That is not what I want for my health care. It is not what I want for my family.

During the debate of the health care bill, it was the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, who said: First you must pass the bill to find out what is in it. Well, as the American people continue to learn about what is in this new health care law, they continue to be disappointed with so many broken promises that were made by Members on the Democratic side of this body and by the President of the United States.

The initial goal of the health care bill, which is now law, was to lower the cost of care, to increase the quality of care, and increase the access to care. Yet in the weeks that have gone by--and the President of the United States had a press conference last week, 90 days into the process--it seems to me this law is going to be bad for patients, those who need medical care in this country; it is going to be bad for payers, the patients who pay for their care, the businesses that pay for the insurance, the taxpayers who are going to be burdened additionally; and it is bad for providers, the nurses and the doctors who try to take care of these patients.

So as I look at this, it seems to me this health care law is going to result in higher costs for patients and less access and less quality. That is why across the board still a majority of Americans want this bill repealed, want the law repealed and replaced because, basically and fundamentally, they do not believe this was a law that was passed for them. They believe it was a law that was passed for somebody else. They think, as a result, they are going to end up paying more and getting less.

That is why today I come to the Senate floor to talk about an additional broken promise and why the American people continue to be so very skeptical about this new health care law.

We have heard the promises in the past by the President. He said: If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan. Period. He said: No one will take it away. Period.

Last week I came to the floor to talk about the fact that over half of the people in this country who receive health care through where they work--half of them--will lose the coverage they have, and it may be within the next 4 years. Those are not my statistics. That is the report that came right out of the White House just a little over a week ago.

So the public is skeptical. I come to you as someone who has worked with preventive medicine, who has worked as the medical director of Wyoming Health Fairs that have provided low-cost health screenings for people all across the Cowboy State, where thousands of people show up at health fairs on weekends to learn what their blood sugar is and how to help get that down; to help people with diabetes, where they get to learn what their cholesterol levels are and how to get that better controlled, to learn if they have thyroid problems and do screenings for cancer as well.

So people all across this country are concerned with their care and the quality of their care and the cost of their care.

The President has made a number of promises, and there is another one he made that I wish to talk about today, and that is a promise the President made to small businesses. On May 7, President Obama, on his monthly job numbers, said:

Four million small businesses recently received a postcard in their mailbox telling them that they are eligible for a health care tax cut this year.

That is what the President said. He said:

Four million small businesses recently received a postcard in their mailbox telling them that they are eligible for a health care tax cut this year.

He went on to say:

It's worth perhaps tens of thousands of dollars to each of these companies.

Well, on face value, that sounds pretty good. Small business owners all across the country would welcome that sort of help. Yet I wish to bring to the floor today an article written by one small business owner, Charles Arp. The title of his column is ``ObamaCare's Broken Promise: One Company's Experience.''

I talked with Mr. Arp yesterday by phone. He is in Illinois. He said this is absolutely what has happened to his business, and he knows I am going to be sharing it on the floor of the Senate today, because he has concerns. He got that postcard. He was at first encouraged by the President's words, the President's promise, but, again, it is another broken promise to the American people. This is a letter dated June 18 of this year. He says:

A few months after the passage of President Obama's health care overhaul, a postcard arrived which led me to believe there may be a benefit coming to my small firm. The mailing from the Treasury Department touted a generous 35 percent tax credit to firms with less than 25 full-time employees averaging less than $50,000 per year in wages, a category which includes my company. In fact, I thought we were right in the sweet spot, with 17 full-time employees averaging slightly more than $42,000 per year.

Well, small business needs relief. He goes on to explain about his company:

I manage Pinney Printing Company in Sterling, Illinois. I am the president of the firm which our family has owned for 100 years. Health care expenses are a major obstacle to Pinney's long-term prosperity. Each year in May, our policy renews and we are faced with double-digit premium increases--20 to 40 percent in recent years.

Some of the increase is absorbed by the company, and some gets passed on to the employees through higher premiums, deductibles, and copays. We have experimented with self-funding and high-deductible health plans. Last year we were forced to downgrade to an HMO plan.

We are nearing the end of our rope, so I was hopeful to learn there could be some benefit for us in the new law.

And what small business owner wouldn't?

He goes on to say:

Postcard in hand, I did a quick calculation and figured our tax credit should be about $28,000. That is 35 percent of the $80,000 we expect to spend this year on employee health care premiums. I phoned our health insurance broker and inquired whether anything special had to be done, not wanting to be excluded by some technicality. He reported there was no special requirement--more good news.

Aha, the next section: ``Barrier to Tax Credit.'' He said:

But there was a problem. A few weeks later I received an e-mail with a link to the National Federation of Independent Business's online calculator. This is a calculator designed to help firms determine their qualifications for the tax credit. I plugged in our numbers, and pressed ``update'' to yield a calculation of ..... zero-zip, nada!

Double-checking, I tried again and again, finally concluded that the 35 percent tax credit will be available only to firms with ten or fewer employees averaging $25,000 or less per year. Increasing either factor--either the number of employees or the average salary--greatly diminishes the magnitude of the tax credit. Increasing both factors yields a parabolic reduction in the result.

Being in the graphic arts industry, I decided to create a chart diagramming the limits of this ``generous'' tax break.

I have the chart here.

He goes on:

Not one to give up easily, I continued my pursuit--

because he had the postcard, of course.

He said:

Surely, there was some benefit in this for me, after years and years of paying the toll for big-government programs and receiving nothing.

The vague language on the postcard instructed readers to learn more at www.irs.gov. There it said to exclude owners, those having a stake of 5 percent or more, from all the input values. I eagerly entered new numbers--subtracting myself, my annual premium, and my salary. This brought our head count down to 16 employees and dropped the average salary to $40,000.

I entered the numbers, and the NFIB calculator displayed the same result--another big goose egg.

He goes on:

Talk about unintended consequences! My firm would have to reduce its workforce and cut employee wages to benefit from this newly enacted Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Is this what the objective should be?

I would never consider taking such an action. Most of the employees have worked at Pinney for twenty years or more. It did get me thinking, though: Maybe we could divide Pinney Printing Company into two smaller firms. While I'm no expert at gaming the government, like some people, it's certainly a possibility many will consider.

I feel foolish now, after getting my hopes up for a government solution to our problem. Our firm is running out of affordable options.

It is my belief that health insurance should be decoupled from employment and bought by individuals and families in the same way automobile insurance is purchased. It is my fear that ObamaCare is a step in the wrong direction and matters will get worse, not better, for Pinney Printing Company and others like us.

So there you have it. It is a heartfelt letter written by someone who got the postcard from the IRS, from the President, listened to the President's statement that said you will be eligible, but what he found out, as did many small business owners all around the country who received this postcard, is that it doesn't apply to them, and if they want to make it apply to them, what they are going to need to do is actually fire employees and lower the wages of the other employees. It makes no sense at all, and that is why I talked to Mr. Arp yesterday, the owner of the company, who said he found this deceiving.

So that is why I come week after week to the Senate floor to say it is time to repeal this legislation and replace it with legislation that delivers more personal responsibility, puts patients in charge; a patient-centered health care plan that allows Americans to buy insurance across State lines; one that gives individuals the same tax relief as the big companies when they buy their own personal health insurance; one that provides individual incentives like the people who attend the Wyoming health fairs--people who take responsibility for their health and who try to find and detect problems early to get down the cost of care. We need to replace it with something that deals with lawsuit abuse and the expense of unnecessary tests due to doctors practicing defensive medicine. We need one that allows small businesses to join together to find less expensive insurance to their employees.

These are the things I will continue to work on. These are the things I will continue to come to the Senate floor and share with the Members of this body and the American public. Today, that is why I offer this second opinion, and another reason to repeal and replace this health care law.

Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.

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