Shea-Porter lauded for health care stand

Thursday, January 28, 2010

To the Editor:

Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter, D, N.H., spoke about health care reform and Washington listened. Congress was considering the so-called “Cadillac tax,” in which portions of expensive health insurance plans costing above $8,500 for an individual and $23,000 for a family would be taxed 40 percent.

According to the New York Times, “Representative Carol Shea-Porter of New Hampshire, who spoke out forcefully against the proposed excise tax, said afterward that it could hurt middle class families. ‘I was standing up for my constituents,’ she said in a statement. ‘I have serious concerns about the excise tax proposal and the effect it could have on middle class families in New Hampshire and across the country.’”

Middle class individuals with chronic medical conditions that are costly to treat have no choice other than to purchase an expensive Cadillac plan. After Shea-Porter spoke, negotiations resulted in the threshold for the tax being raised for both individuals and families so that fewer people would pay it.

Afterwards, White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said “We believe that we can work with Congress to improve the existing excise tax structure and achieve the President’s core goals – which is to put downward pressure on long-term health costs while ensuring that we are not putting new and unfair burdens on hardworking middle class families.”

Once again, Shea-Porter spoke up “for the rest of us – the bottom 99 percent.”

MARILYN BROCK

Bedford