Subject: [big campaign] FW: ALERT: Analysis of New Republican Health Proposal
From: Adam Jentleson <[email-masked]>
To: "[email-masked]'" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:15:07 -0400
List-Id: <bigcampaign.googlegroups.com>

fyi -- our analysis of the new Republican health care proposal.

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From: Progressive Media [mailto:[email-masked]]
Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 5:53 PM
To: Adam Jentleson
Subject: ALERT: Analysis of New Republican Health Proposal

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July 29, 2009
ALERT: Analysis of New Republican Health Proposal

The "New" Republican Plan Is Yet Another Conservative Attempt To Unravel Our Current Employer-Based System and Put More Americans At Risk Of Losing The Insurance They Have Now.

 *   The "new" plan<http://app.mx3.americanprogressaction.org/e/er.aspx?s=785&lid=25061&elq=D28DFF7C661142078AA4A6900AABBE81> from the Republican Study Committee is just the latest in a long line of right-wing plans that would unravel the employer-based system. Because most Americans (158 million<http://app.mx3.americanprogressaction.org/e/er.aspx?s=785&lid=25062&elq=D28DFF7C661142078AA4A6900AABBE81>) get their health care through their employer, unraveling the employer-based system would put more Americans at risk of losing the insurance they have now.

 *   The RSC plan would fundamentally undermine our current employer-based system by offering tax incentives that would encourage individuals to leave our employer-based system and enter the individual market.

 *   This credit would be appealing to younger, healthier people, who could find cut-rate insurance on the individual market - as long as they stay young and healthy!

 *   But as younger, healthier people leave the employer-sponsored insurance pools, employers will be left covering older and sicker employees - driving up their costs.  Some will be forced to stop offering coverage, which would eliminate employer-sponsored care for Americans who would prefer it. People with pre-existing conditions would be especially vulnerable to being denied care on the individual market.

 *   Judging from initial reports<http://app.mx3.americanprogressaction.org/e/er.aspx?s=785&lid=25061&elq=D28DFF7C661142078AA4A6900AABBE81>, the provisions in the RSC plan that allegedly "strengthen" the employer-based system are far weaker than the provisions that would undermine it. The "strengthening" provisions are essentially credits to encourage some small businesses to keep doing what they are already doing.

Calling Our Current System A "Relic," Conservatives Have Been Attempting To Unravel The Employer-Based System For Decades.

 *   It is no surprise that the RSC plan would unravel our employer-based system - since this has been a longstanding goal of conservatives for decades.

 *   Recently, a prominent conservative voice on health care - Rep. Paul Ryan - called our current employer-based system a "relic of World War II"<http://app.mx3.americanprogressaction.org/e/er.aspx?s=785&lid=24798&elq=D28DFF7C661142078AA4A6900AABBE81> and advocated for replacing it with meager tax incentives<http://app.mx3.americanprogressaction.org/e/er.aspx?s=785&lid=25068&elq=D28DFF7C661142078AA4A6900AABBE81> that don't even come close to covering the average family's medical costs<http://app.mx3.americanprogressaction.org/e/er.aspx?s=785&lid=25064&elq=D28DFF7C661142078AA4A6900AABBE81>.

 *   Unraveling the employer-based system was a key goal of the McCain campaign's health care plan, which Americans overwhelmingly rejected in November. Plans to unravel the employer-based system have also been proposed<http://app.mx3.americanprogressaction.org/e/er.aspx?s=785&lid=25065&elq=D28DFF7C661142078AA4A6900AABBE81> by conservatives ranging from Reps. Paul Ryan, John Shadegg and Sens. Tom Coburn and Jim DeMint in the current Congress, to President George W. Bush in 2004.

 *   In fact, conservatives have been trying to unravel the employer-based system for over 20 years, since President Ronald Reagan<http://app.mx3.americanprogressaction.org/e/er.aspx?s=785&lid=25066&elq=D28DFF7C661142078AA4A6900AABBE81> and the Heritage Foundation<http://app.mx3.americanprogressaction.org/e/er.aspx?s=785&lid=25067&elq=D28DFF7C661142078AA4A6900AABBE81> advocated for it in the 1980s.

The Health Care Proposals Currently Being Debated In Congress Would Strengthen The Employer-Based System.

 *   Progressive health care reform would strengthen the employer-based system, and ensure that people can keep their health care if they want to.

 *   Once we fix the system, people will have more stable coverage and the peace of mind that comes from knowing you will always be able to get the treatment you need, when you need it, and from the doctor you choose.

For more information, please contact:
Adam Jentleson, 202.682.1611
[email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>

Center for American Progress Action Fund | 1333 H Street NW, 10th Floor | Washington, DC 20005

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