Health care clarification

To the Editor:

A letter in The Review on May 11 made numerous false claims regarding the new health care reform law. This historic law, while not perfect, offers Wisconsinites access to good, affordable health care that experts believe will significantly reduce health care costs over time.

According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, this law will provide coverage to 32 million Americans while reducing the federal deficit by $143 billion over the next 10 years, with an estimated $1.2 trillion in additional deficit reduction in the following decade.

The new law also offers significant help to Wisconsin businesses. Under this new law, tens of thousands of Wisconsin small businesses will be eligible for tax credits to help them cover the cost of their employees’ health care.

I have often heard from Wisconsinites at my listening sessions who want to start a business, but are discouraged because they can’t afford the cost of coverage for their employees. This law helps those Wisconsinites start businesses and create jobs by providing the affordability and protections of the large insurance group markets to small businesses owners.

This law will prevent the insurance industry from denying people coverage because of preexisting conditions, it will close the Medicare Part D prescription drug “donut hole” for seniors, it improves an unfair Medicare reimbursement formula that has shortchanged our state for years and it will begin to free the American people from the dominance of the health insurance industry.

This law means more choice, more affordability and more protections for Wisconsin families and businesses and I was pleased to vote for it.

Sen. Russ Feingold