Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

To the Editor:

I’d like to make three points about the health care debate and the Republican approach to health care reform in response to your Jan. 25 editorial “What Comes After No?”:

First, it was not only Republicans who voted for both repealing and replacing the health care law. Three Democrats voted for repeal, and 14 voted to take steps to replace the law.

Second, the Republican alternative was estimated by the Congressional Budget Office to lower premium costs—by as much as $3,200 for millions of families compared with the increases expected under the new law.

We lowered premiums while providing critical patient protections, like ensuring that people with pre-existing conditions have access to affordable coverage. That’s what happens when you don’t put the government in charge—prices go down.

Third, we’ll write laws the way they are supposed to be written—with the direct input of the American people, small-business owners and large employers. They won’t be developed behind closed doors by Washington politicians.

Dave Camp
Washington, Jan. 26, 2011

The writer, a Michigan Republican, is the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.