Washington, DC - Congressman Mike Pence, Chairman of the House Republican Conference, advocated for the House Republican alternative health care bill on MSNBC with Dylan Ratigan this morning.

Excerpts:
 
"Well Republicans believe we listened to the American people that don't want a government takeover of health care, but they do want Congress to act to lower the cost of health insurance and lower the cost of health care in the long-term.  We think we do that by allowing Americans to purchase health insurance the way you buy car insurance, across state lines.  Also allow groups of businesses in the city and on the farm to create national insurance risk pools and buy insurance for their employees the way that major corporations can but it today.
 
"You put in medical malpractice reforms on a nationwide basis so nationwide caps will reign in some of these runaway massive law suits that drive defensive medicine and drive up the cost of premiums.  And then you use those savings, lastly, to strengthen the existing state funds and insurance programs that cover people with preexisting conditions.  We believe we can do that all in a fiscally responsible way without mandates, bureaucracy, a government takeover, or government run insurance."
 
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"I've debated colleagues on this on the airwaves, on the floor, and in private over it.  There's a lot of talk about, you know, if you allowed Americans to purchase health insurance as individuals or businesses across state lines, that I've heard the word ‘race to the bottom,' but you know, I think with extraordinary increase in the cost of health insurance premiums, there's a lot of Americans, a lot of small businesses out there that would like to race to the bottom of cost.  And I think that's the fundamental difference between the approach between the Democratic majority and the White House and the Republicans' approach.
 
"They're launching this massive expansion of government bureaucracy, taxes, and mandates to achieve what they call universal coverage, which is their every right to pursue.  We believe the American people are most concerned about the cost of health insurance, the cost of health care, and so our plans are designed to bring down the cost using the power of the individual as you described."

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"Yeah, right, and you got them in there at the end.  The insurance companies, you know, and state governments, you know, we've had over the last 100 years state governments and legislatures control what insurance is offered.  They regulate the insurance companies within those individual states, and they provide a barrier.  It really is odd to think that someone that lives across the river in New Jersey can't go online or pick up the phone and call and insurance company in New York City and buy insurance there.  A big corporation can, but an individual can't.
 
"We really do believe, and I want to give the president a bit of rhetorical credit here, from very early on President Obama has said we need to bring competition into the system and more choice.  Well our proposal, and there's a one-page summary online right now, we'll have our bill out online in the coming hours, Dylan, for people to look at line by line, but our bill really is about that idea, not with a so-called government insurance option or bureaucracy, but allow more competition between the 1,300 insurance companies that exist today across the country."