Oppose Federal Health Care Reform Bills

House Resolution 14 requests the Alaska Congressional delegation to vote against current health care reform bills and to develop health care reform that is affordable and accessible to all legal residents. It also requests the Governor to review the constitutionality of the Nebraska Compromise that guaranteed Nebraskans would receive a break to pay for expanded access to Medicaid benefits. This exemption was granted in order to obtain Senator Ben Nelson's vote in order to get the 60 votes needed to send the health care reform legislation to the Senate floor. Vermont, Florida and Louisiana also received special deals in order to get Senators' votes to reach the 60 vote threshold.

As noted in the letter from the Republican Governors Association (RGA), "health care reform should be about fixing our broken Medicaid and Medicare systems; instead, the current health care bills entitle 15-20 million more people to Medicaid….the unfunded mandate to states and territories is $25 billion."

Also noted by the RGA was the fact that the health care reform bills "impose a one-size fits all federally-designed health insurance exchange." Alaska, as well as the other states, needs the flexibility to design and operate mechanisms to purchase insurance. Alaska and the rest of the states will face increased health care entitlement costs every year if this legislation passes.

The proposed health care reform legislation is also opposed by small businesses around the state and country. NFIB/Alaska states "it fails to address fundamental small business priorities. It does not make health insurance more accessible or affordable to small businesses….this legislation actually increases the overall costs of doing business for small businesses."