Washington D.C- Ways and Means Republicans today sent a letter to UnitedHealth Group (United) inquiring as to its financial relationship with AARP in regard to the marketing of Medicare Medigap and Medicare Advantage policies. United-AARP insurance plans cover more Medicare beneficiaries than any other insurer, and in 2008 AARP received $652,701,000 from insurance companies with 63… Read more

Washington, DC – Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) today joined House Republican leaders at a press conference to discuss the over $670 billion in tax hikes Democrats have enacted into law since January 2009.  The vast majority of those tax increases are a result of the health care law, and 14 tax hikes will hit middle class families – a direct violation of the President’s… Read more

“These short-term actions are destabilizing medical practices—now on a monthly basis—leaving both physicians and their patients in limbo.” – America Medical Association Executive VP Michael Maves, MD, in April 12, 2010, letter to Congress. During the health care debate, Democrats repeatedly promised to provide a permanent fix to the Medicare doctor payment formula known as SGR, which… Read more

Washington, DC – Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) today released a list of tax increases totaling $670.341 billion that have been enacted into law under President Obama.  The gross tax increases equate to more than $2,100 for every man, woman and child in the United States and include at least 14 violations of the President’s pledge not to raise taxes on Americans earning… Read more

Back at the turn of the 21st century, the big accounting scandal was that firms such as Enron were allowed by their accountants to use gimmicks to inflate their profits. There were demands that the accounting profession take a harder line with corporate clients, and federal legislation was adopted to ensure that balance sheets were more realistic. Now, according to Congressmen Henry… Read more

Within hours of signing the Democrats’ health care bill into law, the New York Times reported that the President launched an aggressive public relations campaign to repackage the legislation’s over one-half trillion dollars in tax increases as “pro-jobs” and “pro-business.”  A day later, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) joined the fray and demanded testimony… Read more

With the president’s signature still wet on the Senate health care overhaul, people rightly ask, “what will it mean for me?” For many, the answer will likely be found in your paycheck and in the doctor’s waiting room. As a heart surgeon, I saw a wide range of new health care mandates from Washington, all of which affected care in some way. However, all of those disruptions pale in… Read more

With the ink not even dry on the Democrats’ health care overhaul, American manufacturers are already warning about how much it will cost them. Both Deere and Caterpillar are reporting that the bill will result in their reported earnings declining by $150 million and $100 million respectively.  A spokesman for Caterpillar noted the bill’s tax “could cause us to consider changes to the… Read more

A quick glance at a timeline of the Democrats’ health care bill shows that the most harmful provisions take effect first. Already today we have seen how the Democrats’ health care bill has negatively affected American companies such as John Deere, Caterpillar, Verizon, and Medtronic who have cited the legislation as the source for increasing costs, jeopardizing both jobs and health… Read more

Washington, DC – Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) tonight issued the following statement upon House passage of a second health care reconciliation bill. “The Democrats health care bill is so flawed that it hasn’t been law for three days and yet this is the third time we have voted to ‘fix’ it.  These minor tweaks do nothing to change the fact that this bill spends over $1… Read more