Why is Mark Kirk Lying About Health Care Reform?
By Kevin Robinson in News on Aug 26, 2009 3:20PM
Mark Kirk, Illinois's 10th District Congressman and GOP front runner for the state's U.S. Senate seat, has been been trying to get in front of conservative rage at Obama lately. Earlier this month he held a press conference in a downtown Chicago federal building (in his capacity as a U.S. Congressman) to denounce the House version of the proposed health care reform legislation. Then, he called the bill partisan and expensive, and cited medical malpractice reforms as the key to cutting costs. This week he's upped the ante, lying about the details of the proposed legislation. "Should we provide taxpayer health care for people who are illegally here in the U. S.? I do not think we should provide federally-subsidized health care to illegal aliens," Kirk asked the crowd before rhetorically answering his own question. He failed to mention that the proposed legislation doesn't actually offer health insurance coverage for those in the United States illegally.
Kirk's pattern of lying to voters doesn't end with the health care debate, though. He's been claiming that the proposed legislation would cut $160 billion from Medicare, the popular social program that protects seniors from outlandish healthcare costs. That number comes from proposals in the legislation that would cut payments to insurance companies that participate in Medicare, reduce costly and preventable hospital readmissions and make access to preventative medicine more affordable. He's also been using out of date figures to tell voters that tort reform and large insurance pools - rather than a federally subsidized public option for people that can't otherwise access or afford insurance - will lead to significant reductions in the cost of health care. The numbers he cites, health insurance costs of $2,565 per patient in California, where lawsuits are restricted and premiums are heavily regulated and $5,326 in New Jersey, which has neither, are closer to $4,000 in California, and just under $5,000 in New Jersey.
Maybe when you have access to affordable federally subsidized health care for you and your family, as Congressman Mark Kirk does, you can afford to scare seniors and working people. It might not be good for the people of Illinois, but it's good for whipping up voters that might not otherwise be as excited about your candidacy.