As you may know, the 16-member U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recently released new recommendations on mammograms.  Their recommendations included raising the age to begin routine screening mammography from age 40 to age 50, moving from annual screening mammography for women aged 50 to 74 years to biennial screening, and no longer recommends screening mammography in women aged 75 and older.

I am extremely concerned that these recommendations and new guidelines are designed more to control health spending than to improve the health of patients.   I believe that all Americans should have access to the best possible health care and that improving access to early screening and detection will save money in the long run by preventing illnesses and catching them early when they are easiest to treat as well as improving patient outcomes and saving lives.  I am concerned that this ruling is just the first example of the types of government rationing that Americans can expect to see if the Democrats’ health reform bill is passed and the government takes control of an individual’s healthcare decisions.  I believe that decisions as personal as a person’s health should be between patients and their doctors, NOT between patients and the government. 

Nancy Pelosi just introduced her new health reform bill, HR 3629, claiming that it is budget neutral and will allow Americans to get affordable access to health care. This argument is absurd and factually wrong. This bill will do nothing to make your health insurance cheaper. In fact it will accomplish the exact opposite. By increasing the number of government mandates, imposing new government regulations on insurance companies, and penalizing businesses and individuals who choose not to buy health insurance, your out-of-pocket costs will go up.  And so will your taxes—because eventually we will have to pay for this new TRILLION dollar mandate if Speaker Pelosi gets her way.

The House of Representatives is expected to pass bipartisan legislation this evening, introduced by Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson, Congressman John Adler (D-NJ), and Congressman Paul Broun (R-GA), to help protect small businesses and small health care practices from overreaching federal regulations. The bill will exempt certain small businesses from the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) burdensome Red Flags Regulation, which would force them to develop and implement an unnecessary identity theft program. 

“It is obvious that physicians and dentists are not creditors, and they should not be forced to spend hundreds of dollars to comply with this needless regulation.  They don’t require full payment at the time of service because they first bill the insurance company, then they bill the patient the remainder of the bill.  This system should not be treated the same as a loan with a financial institution,” said Congressman Simpson. “Health care is expensive enough; we don’t need to create needless rules to increase costs even more.”

This bipartisan legislation amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to provide for an exclusion from Red Flag Guidelines for health care practices and law and accounting firms with 20 or fewer employees. In addition, it would create a system where the FTC has some flexibility to waive implementation of the regulations for other industries.

“Small businesses are the backbone of New Jersey’s economy,” said Congressman Adler, a member of the House Financial Services committee. “During these tough economic times, the federal government should not be placing new burdensome regulations on these hard-working entrepreneurs. I am committed to helping small businesses thrive.”

“During these tough economic times, Congress should be assisting small businesses and health care providers instead of tying their hands with more costly bureaucratic red tape,” said Congressman Paul Broun, M.D.  “I want to thank Congressmen John Adler and Mike Simpson for working in a quick and bipartisan manner before the November 1st deadline to help small businesses avoid the burdensome red flag compliance rule at a time when they are trying to stay financially afloat.”

Background:

The Federal Trade Commission went beyond the intent of Congress by considering non-financial services-related industries to be “creditors” under the FAIR and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003. Its ruling would force thousands of small businesses to comply with burdensome, expensive regulations by forcing them to develop and implement an identity theft program.

The bipartisan Adler/Simpson/Broun bill will exempt certain health care practices and law and accounting firms from the FTC’s red flag guidelines.  In addition, it would create a system where the FTC has some flexibility to waive implementation of the regulations for other industries.  The House is expected to pass the bill tonight. If a bill to exempt small businesses is not signed into law, the regulation will go into effect on November 1.

Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson today voted against H.R. 2647, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 because it included a provision concerning hate crimes.

“I believe that every potential victim deserves protection,” said Simpson. “When any heinous crime is committed, perpetrators should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. All crimes are hateful and a violent crime committed to ANY person should be treated the same, regardless of their race, color, religion, or sexual orientation.”

The hate crime language that was inserted in H.R 2647 creates special classes of victims based solely upon behaviors of certain groups of people. The bill equates these protected classes with those of race, color, religion, and national origin – a premise that many civil rights leaders feel is not appropriate.

H.R. 2647 passed the U.S. House of Representatives with a vote of 281-146 and will now be sent to the President for his signature.

"Rep. Wilson has already apologized directly to President Obama and the President has accepted that apology. Speaker Pelosi’s insistence on seeking additional apologies has less to do with Rep. Wilson and more to do with her own attempts to undermine the arguments of those who oppose her health care agenda. I will strongly oppose her resolution attacking Rep. Wilson, believe it is entirely unnecessary, and call on her to move on to more important things.”

Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson released the following statement concerning Idaho’s wolf hunt today, after meeting with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Sam Hamilton.

“The judge’s decision to uphold Idaho’s wolf hunt was welcome news.  In a conversation with Fish and Wildlife Service Director Sam Hamilton this morning, I again expressed my support for the decision to delist the wolves and put management in the hands of capable state agencies,” said Simpson. “Idaho’s hunters have acted responsibly and I want to commend them for doing so in the face of uninformed and undeserved criticism.  I also want to commend Governor Otter for setting reasonable limits in order to manage these animals effectively.”

Yesterday, I spoke to the Boise City Club with my seatmate, Congressman Walt Minnick. It was a Q & A forum and we answered a variety of questions. Several media outlets covered the story and I’ve provided the links below if you would like to learn more.

Boise State Radio

Idaho Statesman, Dan Popkey 

Idaho Statesman, Our View 

Boise Weekly 

When Congressional Democrats bring their healthcare reform legislation to the House floor, I will be voting NO and I want to take a few moments to explain why.  Everyone agrees that our healthcare system needs to be reformed.  Healthcare in America is too expensive and too many Idaho families are worried about losing or have already lost their health coverage.  Businesses, small and large alike, are struggling to provide health insurance for their employees, and too many are being forced to ask employees to share the cost of higher premiums and co-payments in response. 

Regrettably, rather than working on real reforms to improve access to healthcare for all Americans, Democrats in the House are debating a bill that would raise Americans’ taxes, create a massive new tax burden and do little to address the problems in our current health system.  Rather, at a cost of more than a TRILLION dollars, HR 3200, the America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009, will create a government-run healthcare program that will cause millions of Americans to lose their current coverage, place new burdensome requirements on small businesses and individuals, put seniors’ access to care at risk by decreasing Medicare reimbursements, and increase taxes on our nation’s small business owners, farmers, ranchers, and families.  I cannot and will not support this legislation.