WASHINGTON (5 November) – U.S. Rep. Gus M. Bilirakis (R-Fla.), representing Florida’s 9th Congressional District, today issued the following statement after the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) confirmed that the Republican health care plan will lower premiums by up to 10 percent and reduce the deficit by $68 billion over 10 years without raising taxes or cutting Medicare for seniors:

"The Republican plan lowers health care costs and expands access to quality care without raising taxes, cutting Medicare, killing jobs, or putting federal bureaucrats between patients and their doctors. 

“The trillion dollar Democratic plan raises taxes on individuals and small businesses, raids Medicare to pay for a government takeover of health care, and gives the federal government more power over personal health care decisions. The Republican plan clearly is the preferable approach, especially since it is the only one taxpayers can afford.   

“The GOP plan establishes programs to help people with pre-existing conditions obtain coverage through high-risk insurance pools, prevents insurers from unjustly cancelling policies because people get sick and need costly care, and prohibits insurers from instituting annual or lifetime spending caps for people with high health care costs.

“These consumer protections, coupled with common sense ideas like medical liability reform, strengthening association health plans, and allowing people to purchase health insurance across state lines will make health care more affordable without breaking the bank.”

NOTE: Read the full letter from the CBO here (PDF). Read a summary of the GOP health care plan here (PDF).