SR0051 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

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SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The United States Congress passed and the President signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on March 23, 2010; and

WHEREAS, This Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, comprises America's comprehensive federal health care reform, which is commonly referred to as the Affordable Care Act (ACA); and

WHEREAS, The result of this law will be to create a government takeover of the health care industry that will increase health care costs, raise taxes, hurt senior citizens, destroy jobs, reduce the quality of care that Americans will receive, restrict consumer choice, limit individuals' access to private health insurance, and reduce the ability of American companies to compete; and

WHEREAS, The ACA will constrain the freedom of individuals to choose their own doctor and will interfere with individuals' ability to make personal health care decisions; and

WHEREAS, A single-payer health care system, which forces patients to enroll in a one-size-fits-all plan with rich benefits and weak cost sharing, will cause spending for health care to escalate and policymakers to ration care as a cost-containment measure; and

WHEREAS, According to the Congressional Budget Office, the ACA could cause millions of Americans who receive health insurance through their employer to lose their health insurance coverage; in addition, the Congressional Budget Office reports that premiums in the individual and small group markets may substantially increase; and

WHEREAS, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will dictate what benefits insurers must offer and how much they may charge; and

WHEREAS, In view of the fact that physicians lose money servicing government patients on Medicare and Medicaid, the ACA will further increase this problem by further reducing Medicare and Medicaid fees to doctors and hospitals, and will discourage persons from entering the health care field; and

WHEREAS, The ACA will increase taxes on employers who do not offer adequate insurance and will increase taxes on investment income, which in turn will reduce capital available for job expansion, reduce economic growth, and result in fewer jobs for Americans; and

WHEREAS, The ACA will harm seniors by making cuts from the Medicare budget and causing seniors to lose the health insurance coverage they currently possess; and

WHEREAS, The provisions of the ACA will add to the national debt; and

WHEREAS, The provisions of the ACA aimed at reducing health care spending address the symptoms of the cost of health care rather than the root causes of growth in health care spending; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we exposit the following:

(1) the General Assembly rejects the Affordable Care Act and calls for the repeal of the Act by the Congress of the United States;

(2) it is the opinion of the General Assembly that all individuals should have the right to make decisions about their health care, and no law should be in effect that restricts a person's freedom of choice of private health care systems or private plans of any type;

(3) it is the opinion of the General Assembly that no law should interfere with a person's or entity's right to pay directly for lawful medical services, nor should any law impose a penalty or fine, of any type, for choosing to obtain or decline health care coverage or for participation in any particular health care system or plan; and

(4) it is the opinion of the General Assembly that in order to avoid federal government mandates, states should take measured steps to reform our nation's health care system that will allow for frequent midcourse corrections through the passage of smaller bills to replace the Affordable Care Act with sustainable, free market solutions such as tort reform and allowing individuals to buy health insurance across state lines; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to each member of the Illinois congressional delegation.