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Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Source: Ennis Daily News
Author: Matt Cook
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Barton covers range of topics at meeting
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| Health care reform was the main attraction at a Maypearl town hall meeting where U.S. Republican Congressman Joe Barton met with citizens from not only Ellis County, but Waco as well.
Barton said America spends more on health care than any other nation in the world, which is why he supports the idea of reforming the system.
In a release given to everyone in attendance, Barton said President Barack Obama’s budget proposes a reserve fund for health reform totaling $634 billion, with half of the reserve fund created by raising taxes. According to Barton, Obama considers the reserve fund a “down payment” for health reform and intends to seek additional money from Congress to further fund health reform.
To compete with private health plans, Obama and members of Congress are proposing a new public health plan, modeled after Medicare. Barton said many independent experts believe Obama’s plan will ultimately force private insurers out of business because the federal government will act as a competitor, a regulator and a payer. According to Barton, cost-shifting from the public plan to the private plan will create a self-reinforcing cycle that will eventually lead to a government-run, single payer health care plan. |
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