Kosmas to Vote Yes

Suzanne Kosmas announced on Friday that she will change her vote from No to Yes on ObamaCare. Although, she expressed reservations about the bill earlier this year saying it was “fiscally irresponsible” she intends to vote for it now. Here is her explanation in her own words:

Last November, I voted against health care reform because I did not believe the bill before the House was fiscally responsible. Health care reform is, at its core, an economic issue, and addressing rising costs was always one of my highest priorities. Last year’s bill simply did not do enough to rein in costs or to reduce the federal deficit.

“The bill before us now represents the single largest deficit reduction in over a decade, saving nearly $140 billion in the first 10 years and over $1.2 trillion in the decade to follow. This legislation provides truly fiscally responsible reform, and it contains the strongest measures ever enacted to help eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in the system, to rein in skyrocketing health care costs, and to stabilize Medicare while preserving benefits.

“Families and individuals can keep what they have and can continue choosing their doctors. Small businesses get $40 billion in tax credits to provide care and can join together in exchanges that offer affordable choices. And reform will close the donut hole in Medicare prescription drug coverage while improving benefits for our seniors and stabilizing the system over the long haul.

“This health care reform bill also holds insurance companies accountable by preventing them from denying coverage based on preexisting conditions, by making sure they can’t take away your coverage if you get sick, and by eliminating the arbitrary caps on coverage that send many families into bankruptcy.

“We now have a bill that, while not perfect, represents the change needed to put the economy and our health care system on a sustainable and positive path – a bill that includes numerous ideas from both Republicans and Democrats.

“It was my commitment to families and businesses in Florida’s 24th District to be a voice for fiscally responsible, common-sense solutions and positive change for our children and their children. This bill represents those priorities, and that is why I will vote yes.”

Health Care Town Hall

panelists

We are hosting a town hall on the upcoming health care legislation on Tuesday, July 28, 2009 at Eastmonte Civic Center, 830 Magnolia Dr, Altamonte Springs, FL. The meeting will begin promptly at 6:30pm.

Panelists include: Rick Scott, Founder and Chairman of Conservative for Patients’ Rights (CPR); State Representative D. Alan Hays, District 25; Kenneth J. Miller, MD, Anesthesiology; and Jason Brodeur, Procter & Gamble Account Executive, Healthcare for the Eastern United States.

Rick Scott founded Conservative for Patients’ Rights in February 2009 as a response to Obama’s health care plan. CPR believes that true health care reform centers on 4 pillars of Patients’ Rights: Choice, Competition, Accountability, and Personal Responsibility.

Rick, an attorney by trade has been in the health care industry since 1987 when he founded Colombia Hospital Corporation. In 1997, he left Colombia Hospital Corporation to start Richard Scott Investments, which has stakes in health care, manufacturing and technology companies. In 2001, he founded Solantic Corporation, which operates walk in urgent care centers.

State Representative Alan Hays is a Dentist by trade. He earned his DMD from the University of Florida in 1976. In 2004, he was elected to the State House of Representatives, and was re-elected in 2008. During that time he served as the Vice-Chair of the Insurance, Business, and Financial Affairs Policy Committee, and was a member of the Health and Family Policy Council. In addition, he served on the Full Appropriations Council on General Government & Health Care.

He is currently the Vice Chair of the Committee on Health Quality, a member of the Health Care Council and the Committee on Insurance.

His awards include the Florida Dental Association Representative of the Year 2006, Dr. Lewis Earle Legislative Service Award 2009, Florida Association of Health Plans Appreciation Award 2005, and Crown Council, Humanitarian Award for Dental Service in Third World Countries 1999.

He is a member of the Florida Medical Association Council on Legislation and the Dental Association.

Kenneth J. Miller, MD, is a Board Certified, private practice Anesthesiologist. From 1985-1987 he served as Chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology at Winter Park Memorial Hospital. He received his MD in 1980 from Wake Forest University’s Bowman Gray School of Medicine. Three years later in 1983, he completed his Internship and Anesthesiology Residency at the University of Florida.

He is a member of the Florida Society of Anesthesiology, the American Medical Association, and the Florida Medical Association.

Miller believes: Doctors must set the standard of care, not the government; and patients must remain an equal partner in decisions that affect them.

Jason Brodeur is an Healthcare Account Executive for Procter & Gamble. His territory includes the Eastern United States. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Food and Resource Economics and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Florida. He recently earned a Executive Education Certificate, Negotiation and Decision Making from Harvard University.

Brodeur was appointed to the State of Florida Medicaid Pharmaceutical and Therapeutics Committee by Governor Crist to adjudicate preferred drug list for the 2.2 million Medicaid recipients in Florida, representing over $1 billion in annual spending.

He is also on the Board of Directors of Community Based Care of Seminole County and is a member of the Florida Society of Health System Pharmacists and an active American Cancer Society Volunteer.