Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Frank Lucas spoke out against Speaker Pelosi’s latest health care bill.  H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, was unveiled today by the Speaker and members of her leadership team.

“While Speaker Pelosi may call her latest attempt at health care legislation a ‘compromise,’ it is actually just another piece of legislation that will force government-run health care on the American people,” stated Lucas.  “Once again, the majority leadership in the House has decided to ignore the will of the people and force a trillion-dollar government takeover of our health care system that will raise taxes, cut benefits for seniors, and lower the standard of health care in this country.”

The plan includes a so-called “public option,” known by most as government-run health care. The “public option” has been very controversial and a majority of Americans do not support it.  In addition, this plan will expand Medicaid to cover anyone who makes less than 150 percent of the federal poverty level.  While the federal government pays for a large portion of Medicaid, the program forces states to pay the remaining costs – meaning the Speaker’s plan will require states to raise taxes and shift their spending priorities in order to comply with this latest federal government mandate.

“This immense 1,990 -paged bill is no different than the Speaker’s original legislation,” stated Lucas.  “During the town hall meetings I held in July and August, the people of the Third District made it very clear to me that they were opposed to any form of government-run health care.  I will continue to oppose any health care plan that includes a government takeover of our health care system, that burdens our states with additional fees and bureaucracy, and that saddles our future generations with trillions of dollars of debt.”

Speaker Pelosi announced that she would like to see a vote on the bill by next week.  The Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan accounting office, has yet to score the bill, however Speaker Pelosi has announced that by her calculations the bill will cost approximately $900 billion over the next ten years.

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