Former State Representative Allen Quist will be sponsoring a series of forums in Southern Minnesota dealing with the health care bills now in Congress. “The purpose of the forums,” said Quist, ”is to provide the public with accurate information about the health care proposals and to encourage the public to contact their elected officials and ask them to ‘just say no’ when they vote on the bills now on the floor.” Quist will be joined at the forums by Dr. Brian Davis in Rochester and by Citizens Council on Health Care President, Twila Brase, R.N., in Mankato and Worthington.
Quist emphasized that our goal should be for every United States citizen to have the opportunity for the highest quality health care possible at an affordable cost. He said, “The best way to improve our health care is by genuine reform of our present system; not by a radical shift to a government-run program.”
Quist said he agrees with Representative Collin Peterson who described the bills now under consideration in Congress as follows: “This is ideology run amuck.” And as Peterson also said, “I have so many problems with this [House] bill I don’t even know where to start.” [http://minnesota.publicradio.org]
According to Quist, “There are only two ways to allocate available resources—consumer choice or government dictates. These bills transform health care in our nation from being primarily a system of consumer choice to being one of government dictates.” “A system of government mandates,” said Quist, “won’t work over the long haul and is out of place in a free society.”
Quist stated that the bills are not about controlling costs. He noted that, “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has admitted that putting reasonable limits on malpractice lawsuits would save $53 billion each year—over half a trillion dollars over ten years.” “If this was about controlling costs,” Quist said, “we would start by enacting real reforms concerning these lawsuits. The fact that this matter (tort reform) is off the table clarifies that the real purpose of the bills lies elsewhere.”
Quist said that the House bill’s $1.trillion cost estimate by the Congressional Budget Office over the next ten years is another major concern. Quist noted that this is a trillion dollars in addition to the half trillion dollars we are not saving by ignoring the medical malpractice problem. Quist said, “To paraphrase Everett Dirksen, a trillion here and a trillion there, and after a while it adds up to real money.”
Quist said that the real driving force behind these bills is ideology. “Congress is run,” said Quist, “by people who believe that problems are best solved by the federal government taking over.” Quist added, “Look at what has been happening overall: 1) problems in the auto industry are dealt with by the federal government taking over automobile companies, 2) problems in the banking industry are managed by the federal government taking over banks, and 3) here we go again—problems in the health care system are addressed by the federal government taking over the Health care industry.” “Do we see a pattern here?” asked Quist. “This is all about liberal ideology,” said Quist.
Quist said that at the forums he will outline a number of free market proposals for health care reform which he believes are superior to a government-run system.
Forum Schedule:
- Monday, Nov. 9th
Rochester Ramada Inn – 7:00 PM - Tuesday, Nov. 10th
Mankato Happy Chef – 12:00 Noon - Tuesday, Nov. 10th
Worthington Pizza Ranch – 6:00 PM
The public is invited on a first come-first served basis.
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