Health reform has to manage costs

U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam should be congratulated for having the courage to vote against the more than trillion-dollar House-passed health care reform bill, HR 3962. It is 2,000 pages of costly new federal requirements that clearly violate major campaign promises. The measure will not reduce health care costs, and, instead, will add to our nation's burgeoning deficit, severely impact small businesses and millions will lose their current coverage.

The Lewin Group found that the public option could cause nearly six of every 10 Americans with private coverage - roughly 118 million people - to switch to public insurance. Unlike health insurers, federal insurance programs don't pay state taxes, which will cause a severe dip in state tax revenues. The recession has already left many states deeply in the red, and a public option would make states' terrible fiscal situation even worse.

Congress has rightly set out to both expand insurance coverage and reduce health care costs for all Americans. But, without real and effective measures to reduce health care costs, neither goal is attainable.

Pamela Mitroff

Wheaton