Posts Tagged ‘Tenn.’

Tenn. Rep. Stewart Responds to Mitt Romney’s Plan to Voucherize Veterans’ Health Care

Thursday, December 1st, 2011

mike stewart

Rep. Mike Stewart

NASHVILLE – In response to Mitt Romney’s dangerous plan to voucherize our veterans’ health care, Tennessee State Rep. Mike Stewart, a veteran of Operation Desert Storm, released the following statement today ahead of Romney’s fundraiser in Knoxville:

“Veterans’ healthcare is the moral responsibility of the American people. But under Mitt Romney’s disastrous proposal, America’s veterans, who have risked their lives to protect our country, would be left to fend for themselves on the open insurance market.

“Tennesseans believe in honoring our commitments—especially to our veterans. That means ensuring proper treatment and care for all our former service men and women—a commitment that every American president has honored since the VA Department was founded in 1930.

“A voucher is a coupon, not a commitment. These brave men and women volunteered to put on the uniform and fight for our country. They shouldn’t have to fight a privatized system for their healthcare the rest of their lives.

“Tennessee veterans deserve better. Unsurprisingly, this is the same Mitt Romney who wants to turn Medicare into a voucher program, who wants to let homeowners hit rock bottom, and who made a fortune breaking up American companies and shipping jobs overseas.”

Background:
Romney: Give vouchers to U.S. veterans:
“Meeting with about a dozen veterans in South Carolina, GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney suggested privatizing the healthcare system of military veterans… “If you’re the government, they know there’s nowhere else you guys can go, you’re stuck,” Romney told the veterans. “Sometimes you wonder if there would be some way to introduce private sector competition, somebody else who could come in and say each solder has ‘X’ thousand dollars attributed to them and then they can choose where they want to go in the government system or the private system with the money that follows them. Like what happens with schools in Florida where people have a voucher that goes with him.” [UPI, 11/11/11]

TN Democratic Party News

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Tenn. Republicans Vote to End Medicare, Abandon 1 Million Tennesseans

Saturday, April 16th, 2011

NASHVILLE – Chip Forrester, chair of the Tennessee Democratic Party, issued the following statement in response to the House of Representative’s vote today to end Medicare as a part of Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget:

“There are more than 1 million Tennesseans on Medicare, and 80 percent of them are over age 65. This budget shreds the contract that this country has with Tennessee seniors after a lifetime of work. We promised seniors that the cost of health care and long-term care would not bankrupt them and their families in their retirement. By ending Medicare, this plan will force seniors to pay more out of pocket and negotiate with private drug and insurance companies. By slashing Medicaid it takes away the last protection for seniors late in life.”

Tennessee’s Republican Congressional delegation voted unanimously in favor of passing the bill.

Facts

“House of Representatives Votes To End Medicare!” | Forbes.com | April 15, 2011

Tennessee’s Republican delegation votes to end Medicare | U.S. House Clerk | accessed April 15, 2011

Tennessee: Medicare Population Demographics | statehealthfacts.org | accessed April 15, 2011

 

TN Democratic Party News

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