Congressman Fred Upton betrayed the people of southwest Michigan last Wednesday.

After initially opposing the disastrous Republican health care bill, he flipped and voted to pass the bill in the House of Representatives.

Upton’s stated reason for changing his position was that he offered an amendment that added $8 billion over five years to help states provide high-risk pools for people with pre-existing conditions, who would lose the protection provided them by the Affordable Care Act.

Upton’s amendment was described by the American Association for Retired Persons as an “$8 billion giveaway to insurance companies that won’t help the majority of those with pre-existing conditions.”

The Center for Budget and Policy priorities listed three major problems with the amendment: 1) $8 billion falls far short of what is needed to make high-risk pools work; 2) The money doesn’t do anything about the other major problems the bill would cause for people with existing health conditions; and 3) states would get extra money for dropping protections for people with pre-existing conditions.

The bill that Upton voted for is a cruel assault on the health of middle- and low-income Americans. This bill would result in the loss of health insurance for more than 20 million people; would greatly increase the cost of health insurance for older and poorer individuals and those living in rural areas; would allow insurance companies to once again put lifetime limits on health insurance benefits; would greatly reduce protections for individuals with pre-existing conditions; and would eliminate the requirement that health insurance policies cover basic medical benefits like outpatient care, hospitalization, emergency room visits and prescription drugs.

At the same time that the bill would cause great harm to millions of Americans, the Republican scheme would provide billions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthiest individuals. The majority of the bill’s tax cuts would go to those people who make more than $1 million a year.

The Republican bill is strongly opposed by the AARP, the American Medical Association, the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, the American Diabetes Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Hospital Association, the Catholic Hospital Association and the March of Dimes.

Upton voted for this horrible bill. He is clearly more concerned about supporting his party than he is about supporting his constituents.

Dr. Larry Feldman

Lakeside