Boehner brings attention to overlooked GOP healthcare plans, rejects Dem behemoth

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) called attention to GOP healthcare plans overlooked by big media, saying, “We first released our healthcare plan in June and over the last six months, we have introduced at least 8 bills...” Boehner also rejected the House Democrat plan because of issues with cost and individual rights. [Story continues after video.]

Boehner delivered the weekly Republican address, citing key points of the GOP healthcare plans:

•Number one: let families and businesses buy health insurance across state lines;
•Number two: allow individuals, small businesses, and trade associations to pool together and acquire health insurance at lower prices, the same way large corporations and labor unions do today;
•Number three: give states the tools to create their own innovative reforms that lower health care costs; 
•Number four: end junk lawsuits that contribute to higher health care costs by increasing the number of tests and procedures that physicians sometimes order not because they think it's good medicine, but because they are afraid of being sued.

House Democrats led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) disclosed healthcare legislation that will be debated on the floor next week under the politically friendly but potentially misleading title, ‘Affordable Healthcare for America Act.’

Boehner said, “The best way to get a sense of what Speaker Pelosi’s takeover of healthcare looks like is to actually look at it. Just shy of 2,000 pages, it runs more than 620 pages longer than the government-run plan Hillary Clinton proposed in 1993. This 1,990 pages of bureaucracy will centralize healthcare decision-making in Washington, D. C. It’ll require thousands of new federal employees. It’ll put unelected boards, bureaus, and commissions in charge of who gets access to what drug and what potentially life-saving treatment.”

Boehner also said the Dem bill will increase costs for health insurance premiums, and “kill jobs” because of tax hikes and mandates. He said the bill will also cut seniors’ Medicare benefits.

As Boehner and Pelosi pitched their plans, The Tea Party Express populist movement cranked up again, calling attention in a media advisory to an event in a liberal area of San Francisco drawing thousands [see photo below]. The Tea Party Express is a magnet for grassroots activists, in a manner similar to the way activist organizations for Democrats draw supporters.

Boehner said, “Enough is enough. Breaking the bank and taking away the freedoms Americans cherish is not the answer to the challenges we face.”

[Photo courtesy Tea Party Express.]