LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR BOLLING CALLS FOR CHARTING A NEW COURSE ON FEDERAL HEALTH CARE REFORM -Expresses concern over White House Health Care Summit proposals that would negatively impact the Commonwealth-

From the Office of the Lieutenant Governor

March 1, 2010

Contact: Ibbie Hedrick
Phone: 804-786-2078
Cell: 804-677-0009
Email: Ibbie.Hedrick@ltgov.virginia.gov

RICHMOND - Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling today commented on proposals discussed at the White House Health Care Summit. The Lieutenant Governor expressed concern over irresponsible proposals that would negatively impact the Commonwealth of Virginia. Joined by the Virginia Campaign for Health Care Reform, State Senator Jill Holtzman Vogel and Delegate Scott T. Garrett, Bolling called for legislators to start over and chart a new course on federal health care reform.

"I am disappointed that the White House and majority leaders in Congress did not take this opportunity to chart a new course on health care reform that leverages areas of broad agreement and relies on common-sense solutions to reducing the cost of health care," said Lieutenant Governor Bolling. "Instead, they continued to advance ideas that would result only in additional taxes on Virginia families and businesses and new funding burdens on Virginia taxpayers as we struggle to bridge a $4 billion state budget deficit."

"The White House proposals, which are cribbed from the House and Senate bills firmly rejected by the American people, will not achieve the stated goals of making the health system sustainable or stabilizing the budgets of the federal government and American families," said Delegate Garrett (R-Lynchburg). "At a time when our economy is still in turmoil, plans for trillions of dollars in new health care spending paid for by taxes on middle class families and small business will be devastating, and they will still fail to reduce the cost of health care in America."

"While I agree with the President's statement at the White House summit on health reform that we must look for ways to lower the cost of health care, we can't achieve this goal with legislation focused on penalizing small businesses and individuals," said Senator Vogel (R-Winchester). "We need to increase access to health care by reducing the cost of health care, and that is the place where Congress should be laser-focused instead of how the federal government can impose control on the health care of Virginians."

The Virginia Campaign for Responsible Health Reform identified several areas where Congress and the White House should find agreement and enact common-sense reforms, including cutting down on waste and fraud, creating new pooling options for small businesses, relief for individuals with pre-existing conditions, and medical liability reform.

The Campaign for Responsible Health Reform is sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which is the world's largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region. For more information, please visit the website www.responsiblehealthreform.com.

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