Rep. Gerlach defends 'no' vote on Obamacare

Congressman Jim Gerlach defends his opposition to Obamacare in a letter to the editor originally published in The Pottstown Mercury. Gerlach is responding to a letter from an Obama disciple.

Gerlach: My vote against Obamacare was justified

I would like to respond to a recent letter in the Mercury attacking my vote against the recently-enacted $2.4 trillion health care law that gives greater control over medical decisions to the federal government (Gerlach should have supported Dems health bill, April 4).

This vote, like every vote I cast in the U.S. House of Representatives, reflects the sentiment of my constituents. In the days leading up to the health care vote, my offices received almost 4,700 phone calls, e-mails and other correspondence. Of those who contacted my office, 70 percent opposed the health care proposal while 30 percent supported the legislation.

Doctors in my district know this new law increases government, but won't improve care. Small business owners know this law buries them under new mandates and will kill jobs. And families know that higher taxes won't help them buy health insurance.

Hiring 16,000 new Internal Revenue Service agents, auditors and other employees means more paperwork and less privacy, not better health care. Imposing a $20 billion tax during the next decade on bio-tech and life sciences companies that employ approximately 20,000 workers in Pennsylvania will kill jobs and dry up funding for life-saving research. And more than 27,000 senior citizens in my district who are enrolled in the Medicare Advantage program will have fewer options and lose access to eye and dental care not covered by traditional the Medicare program.

I am committed to working on getting health care reform right. That means introducing legislation to strip out the heavy-handed mandates, tax increases and Medicare cuts. Provisions that end lawsuit abuses, encourage competition among insurers so that consumers have more choices and honoring our commitments to senior citizens are some of the other items that need to be included to get the job done right.

To suggest that I am in favor of the status quo health care system is a complete distortion of the truth.

U.S REP. JIM GERLACH
R-6th Dist.
West Pikeland