A Message from Representative Kurt Schrader

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This is my representative's reply when I sent him an email about health reform. Lengthy, but informative info on some subjects I had not yet heard about. Schrader voted yes on both the initial and reconciliation packages which are now law R Johansen D.C. PC,DABCOChiropractic Life Center12762 SE Stark StreetPortland Oregon 97233Voice 5032557746,Fax 5032550818---------- Forwarded Message ----------From: <schraderwyror05@...><drjohansen@...>Subject: A Message from Representative Kurt SchraderDate: Tue, 30 Mar 2010 12:22:47 -0400

March 30, 2010

Dr. Johansen

14661 South East 172nd Avenue

Clackamas, OR

Dear Dr. Johansen:

Thank you for contacting my office regarding healthcare reform. On Sunday, March 21, 2010, the Senate's version of healthcare reform (HR 3590) and the reconciliation package (HR 4872) passed out of the House of Representatives, both with my support.

During the campaign and throughout the last year, it has become increasingly apparent that Americans can no longer tolerate the status quo when it comes to affording healthcare in this country. Double digit increases to insurance rates are bankrupting families, small businesses and our nation. Insurance costs for small businesses have increased 129 percent over the last 10 years and Oregon's insurance rates have gone up almost 20 percent per year for the past 7 years.

Many of my concerns in November about cost containment in the House version of healthcare reform have been addressed in the combined final healthcare package. The subsidy levels to help lower income individuals afford healthcare are more appropriate and approximately $200 billion below what was included in the House healthcare bill. These levels continue to taper off in the out years as rising insurance costs continue to moderate. The number of folks added to Medicaid is reduced in the Senate version to a more reasonable 138 percent of the federal poverty level to encourage more personal responsibility in our healthcare. I lobbied aggressively for reductions in premiums for individuals who practiced healthier lifestyles and I authored a strong comparative effectiveness research (CER) piece of the bill. CER would give an independent authority the ability to foster solid, peer reviewed research into the best diagnostics, treatments and healthcare delivery. The research CER makes available will help doctors and patients have the best information to make their own healthcare decisions. Both of these elements are included in the final healthcare package.

More significantly, I and a few others refused to sign onto the final reform package until Congress and the Administration pledged to stop the Medicare reimbursement discrimination against Oregon and other states that provide high quality, low cost healthcare as the result of an antiquated reimbursement formula dating back 40 years. Currently, Oregon, which practices quality, cost effective medicine, receives half the reimbursement rate of inefficient areas on the East coast. We won the battle. Legislative language was included in the bill, along with a signed letter and personal guarantee by the President, that will move our system from one that encourages waste and unnecessary tests and procedures to one that reimburses health care providers like Oregon based on successful health outcomes. These changes will dramatically reduce the cost of healthcare nationally.

The new Medicare reimbursement methods will mean more doctors will be willing to see and treat seniors who rely on Medicare. Seniors will see an immediate $250 rebate on prescription drug costs. The legislation also provides for a 50 percent discount on brand name drugs and eventual closing of the Medicare Part D prescription drug donut hole by 2020.

Effective immediately, this bill eliminates co-pays or deductibles for preventive care under Medicare or new private plans. Health insurers may not drop people from coverage because they are sick, refuse coverage to children with pre-existing conditions, or impose lifetime or annual limits on coverage in new plans. There will be a temporary risk pool for uninsured that may have pre-existing conditions and temporary reinsurance for 55-64 year old retirees until exchanges are available. Young people up to 26 years of age will be able to stay on their parents' health plan. There will be new investment in training primary care doctors, nurses and public health professionals to take care of the expanded population that now have access to healthcare. By 2014, these benefits will be available to all Americans through state exchanges that allow consistent regulation and decreased costs.

The final package is also much friendlier to small businesses. In this legislation, 96 percent of small businesses are not subject to providing healthcare for their employees. Larger businesses (over 50 employees) are encouraged to provide healthcare but in a much more flexible and affordable way. The only requirements large businesses must adhere to are deductibles per individual must not exceed $2,000 and the cost per employee must not exceed 9.5 percent of a family's income. Small businesses with low average payrolls are eligible for tax credits up to 35-50 percent for healthcare costs if they choose to provide healthcare for their employees. Businessmen and women are also allowed to deduct the full cost of their insurance for the first time and the exchanges allow small businesses to pool their collective associations' buying power to give them the same ability as large employers to negotiate advantageous insurance rates.

Finally, the healthcare package attacks the rising cost of healthcare on our national budget and debt. According to the impartial Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the package reduces the national deficit by $138 billion in the first 10 years. Furthermore, the CBO estimates that the deficit will be reduced even more as the positive aspects of the health care overhaul affect different parts of the health care industry and economy. The CBO also feels the federal budgetary commitment to healthcare will decrease during the decades following the 10 year budgetary window.

I consider these all strong, positive reasons to vote for the healthcare reform proposal. There is more work to be done as we flesh out some of the outlines in the reform. The bottom line is that this work begins to address the desperately needed transformation of our 40 year old healthcare delivery system which is on the brink of implosion. If we like our current healthcare, we need to make these changes to be able to afford it in the 21st century.

I will continue to fight for the policies that best reflect the needs of the 5th Congressional District of Oregon. For more information on the final health care package, please visit my website at http://schrader.house.gov.

Sincerely,

KURT SCHRADER

Member of Congress

P.S. Please contact my office with further questions or concerns by calling (202) 225-5711 or (877) 301-KURT. You can also sign up for my e-newsletter by visiting my website at schrader.house.gov.

KS/

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