I oppose the new national healthcare law, known by many as Obamacare, because it is a hallmark of government inefficiency and overreach.

There are very few Americans who believe the federal government can do things more efficiently than our private sector, yet liberal Washington politicians pushed through this law opposed by an overwhelming majority of the American people in poll after poll.

Maine’s two U.S. Senators were right in voting against this law in its final form.

The law takes a half-trillion dollars out of Medicare to fund the program and raises taxes on our struggling economy.

Some of the new healthcare law’s taxes include:

• An individual mandate, currently being challenged before the Supreme Court. It requires everyone to purchase health insurance, or pay a new tax.
• An employer mandate, which requires that all business with more than fifty employees offer a government-approved health plan to all of their employees, or pay a tax of $2,000 per employee, after the first thrity.
• A tax on indoor tanning services
• Elimination of the tax deduction for employers providing Medicare prescription drug coverage.
• Capping the amount your employers can contribute to your tax-free flexible spending accounts, thereby increasing income taxes amounts you have spent tax free before the cap
• Medicare surtaxes for certain wage earners and a 3.8% Medicare tax on investment income of these individuals.
• The ability to deduct itemized medical expenses will begin after you spend 10% of your income on medical expenses, instead of the current7.5%  – the government will tax that extra 2.5%.
• What has been called a “Cadillac tax” on high-value health plans which are offered by many employers.  Any plan that costs more than $10,200 for individuals, or $27,500 for families, will be assessed a 40 percent excise tax.

What do we get in return?  Increased government, new red-tape bureaucracy and a program that even the Administration admits will not cover all Americans.

It is time for a different approach.

We need a patient-focused approach to healthcare reform that allows patients to take ownership of their care and to ensure the government does not get between their care and their doctor.

The cost of healthcare needs to be our focus and we must do everything we can to lower costs and ensure that families can get the coverage they need through private sector plans.

Cumulative mandates on insurance and the cost of liability insurance for doctors have driven up costs.  In some cases they have forced insurers to leave markets or doctors to shut down their practices.  We must do everything we can to lower those costs to make it easier for Maine people to find affordable plans.

The ability for people to take their healthcare with them as they move from job to job more easily has to be our goal in addition to ensuring those with pre-existing conditions won’t have to fear bankruptcy from the loss of coverage.

We can find common sense solutions if we move past the rhetoric and the idea that a one-size-fits-all national government solution is the answer.