Rep. Cao's View of Obamacare

January 4, 2010
Dear Mr. NeonLeon:

Thank you for contacting me regarding health reform. It is important for me to know your views, and I appreciate your taking the time to contact me.

The Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962) passed the U.S. House of Representatives on November 7, 2009 by a vote of 220-215. The Senate is considering its version of the health bill. If the Senate bill passes, it must be merged with the House bill and passed by both chambers before being sent to the President for his signature.

I voted for H.R. 3962 because I view access to health care as a moral principle and am deeply concerned about the state of health care in Orleans and Jefferson Parishes and across the U.S. I was very concerned about the potential for the bill to allow for federal funding of abortion - about which tens of thousands of my constituents have written to me. However, the Stupak-Pitts Amendment passed immediately before the final vote on H.R. 3962, and it bans federal funding of abortion except in the instance of rape, incest, or danger to the life of the mother.

The U.S. health care system lags behind the rest of the industrialized world in terms of cost, affordability, access, and outcomes. 
Health care spending is rising while Americans are getting sicker and losing access to health care.

This is particularly the case in Orleans and Jefferson Parishes. Over 57% of our medical facilities still have not reopened since Hurricane Katrina, and we still do not have a hospital and have very few clinics in New Orleans East. Nearly two-thirds of New Orleans residents report chronic health problems -a 45% increase since 2006- yet we have fewer doctors to treat them because medical professionals continue to leave our area. New Orleans is now a national leader in diabetes, heart disease, and new cases of HIV and Hepatitis with very few options for addressing these challenges. Alarmingly, in 2008, more than 100,000 individuals, or 21.7% of Orleans and Jefferson Parish residents, were uninsured, as compared with the national average of 15.0%.

Anh "Joseph" Cao
Member of Congress
2nd District, Louisiana

(I'll comment when I calm down.)