Jerry Lewis-- A Congressman Whose Constituents Would Really Benefit From Health Care Reform

When Karl Rove fired not just one, but two U.S. Attorneys investigating several massive corruption schemes with Rep. Jerry Lewis at its center, many said he was the luckiest man in Congress-- or at least the one who knew best how to work the system. But if he's the luckiest, his Inland Empire constituents are among the least lucky.

The median income in CA-41 is $38,741, significantly lower than the state of California's $47,493. But income isn't the only place where quality of life sinks in Jerry Lewis' sprawling San Bernardino County district. The home foreclosure rate is one of the worst in California and one of the worst in all America. Over 15,300 homes have already been foreclosed on and the 4 year projection of foreclosures is 50,906-- fifth highest in the state after the districts represented by Republicans Dan Lungren, Tom McClintock, Ken Calvert and Mary Bono-Mack. On March 5 Lewis and his four colleagues voted against HR 1106, the bill meant to help families save their homes. As usual, Lewis was putting the greed and avarice of banksters-- who have lavished $733,480 on his political career-- over the interests and needs of his own constituents. And it is no different when it comes to the debate over health care reform.


A former insurance salesman, Jerry Lewis doesn't just want to prevent health care reform, he wants to abolish Medicare! His role in the debate can be summed up in one word: "obstructionist." He freely admits that his talking points on health care reform are written by the Lewin Group, a subsidiary of United Healthcare, a die-hard opponent of reform and a major GOP campaign contributor. Lewis uses every scare tactic-- from government take-over of health care to death panels-- to persuade his hard-pressed constituents that they don't want the kind of health insurance coverage he and his family enjoy. And the district is one of the most desperately in need of reform anywhere in California. If the bill Lewis always rails against, HR 3200, is signed into law, 115,000 uninsured individuals in the district would gain access to high-quality, affordable health insurance (of the 138,000 who have no insurance at all.) An official report from the House Commerce and Energy Committee looked at the impact HR 3200 would have on CA-41. It makes it difficult to understand why the Representative from this district has made a crusade out of opposing health care reform (until you notice that the Medical-Industrial Complex ($584,189) and the Insurance Industry ($250,479) have been even more generous to him than Wall Street has.

• Help for small businesses. Under the legislation, small businesses with 25 employees or less and average wages of less than $40,000 qualify for tax credits of up to 50% of the costs of providing health insurance. There are up to 10,400 small businesses in the district that could qualify for these credits.

• Help for seniors with drug costs in the Part D donut hole. Each year, 13,000 seniors in the district hit the donut hole and are forced to pay their full drug costs, despite having Part D drug coverage. The legislation would provide them with immediate relief, cutting brand name drug costs in the donut hole by 50%, and ultimately eliminate the donut hole.

• Health care and financial security. There were 1,600 health care-related bankruptcies in the district in 2008, caused primarily by the health care costs not covered by insurance. The bill provides health insurance for almost every American and caps annual out-of-pocket costs at $10,000 per year, ensuring that no citizen will have to face financial ruin because of high health care costs.

• Relieving the burden of uncompensated care for hospitals and health care providers. In 2008, health care providers in the district provided $55 million worth of uncompensated care, care that was provided to individuals who lacked insurance coverage and were unable to pay their bills. Under the legislation, these costs of uncompensated care would be virtually eliminated.

• Coverage of the uninsured. There are 138,000 uninsured individuals in the district, 18% of the district. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that nationwide, 97% of all Americans will have insurance coverage when the bill takes effect. If this benchmark is reached in the district, 115,000 people who currently do not have health insurance will receive coverage.

• No deficit spending. The cost of health care reform under the legislation is fully paid for: half through making the Medicare and Medicaid program more efficient and half through a surtax on the income of the wealthiest individuals. This surtax would affect only 2,120 households in the district. The surtax would not affect 99.3% of taxpayers in the district.

Residents of Redlands, Yucaipa, Big Bear, Banning, Hesperia and Apple Valley would have just have had to suck it up in the past. This year, however, Lewis has drawn a Democratic opponent with an entirely different point of view, Pat Meagher.

Meagher isn't another Democrat who would fit neatly into the category, "well-he's-better-than-Lewis." He certainly is, but he's also better than other Democrats running for Congress-- and plenty who are already in Congress. Eager to join the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Meagher is serious about representing ordinary working families in San Bernardino. When it comes to health care reform, Meagher has a lot more to say than Lewis. Yesterday he told us that he's been "a consistent and outspoken proponent of H.R. 676 which is a single-payer Health Care system similar to Medicare-for-all. Unfortunately in the current debate, single payer has been removed from the table. This means that to affect true reform we must have a viable public option. Merely tinkering with regulations should in no way be confused with true Health Care reform. It is time that Congress stands up for the people of this great country, instead of standing up for the profits of the insurance companies."

At the end of July, when Lewis first issued a press release outlining why he would oppose health care reform, Meagher countered with his own statement:

Representative Lewis is wrong when he insists that the reform plan “will amount to transferring control of our entire health care system to the federal government”. President Obama has repeatedly said that the aim of his program would not be to have a government takeover of health care, rather it would be to make existing companies more responsible and provide competition through a government option similar to what Congressman Lewis himself enjoys. Competition is the basis of the American capitalistic system. Republicans call for it in our educational system, yet when it comes to health care, they say No.
 
Representative Lewis is correct that we have a “terrible economy”, but he fails to mention that this is the result of former President Bush and the Republican controlled Congress that allowed the interests of banks, mortgage companies, pharmaceutical manufacturers and insurance companies to reign over the needs of the people. Access to a quality health care system should be a right for all Americans, it should not be reserved for the privileged. America’s health care system ranks is 37th in the world for quality. We have seen health care costs rise annually over the cost of inflation for the last decade. Doing nothing, as Lewis proposes, is far more expensive than any plan under consideration. 
 
Representative Lewis is wrong when he says that small businesses will bear the brunt of this health care reform. The health care system in the United States is employer based.  Employer mandates, inserted at the Republican’s demand, are exempt for businesses with 50 or fewer employees. Small business owners are already suffering as they loose quality employees to larger companies that can afford health plans and struggle to pay for health insurance for themselves. Their costs are pushed even higher by large companies, like Walmart, that fail to provide any insurance for their employees, and the 50 million uninsured who drive up costs using Emergency rooms for routine ailments. Initial versions of the bill showed that employer costs, if they did not participate in a plan themselves, would be $750 annually for each full-time employee, and $375 for part-timers.
 
Representative Lewis complains that “Putting a government bureaucrat in charge of health care choices that should be made between a patient and a doctor is unacceptable.” He is defending a system where a penny-pinching bean counter employed by an insurance company, and we should remember that before entering public service Lewis sold insurance, whose sole responsibility is to make profit for that company is the one making the decisions now. We have all heard stories, or lived them, that end with “but they didn’t cover that.” I would much prefer to have a government bureaucrat whose sole job is to represent the people inserted into this process. This is supposed to be a government of the people, by the people and for the people. This is a concept that is lost on Mr. No as he defends the status quo.
 
Representative Lewis admits that “we face difficulties and inequities within our overall health care system. Then he whines that the reform plan is being “rammed” through Congress. The fact is that 2 Senate committees and 3 HOUSE committees are debating this bill. If House member Lewis would participate in the legislative process, instead of being Mr. No, he would see the bipartisan effort that is taking place. If Representative Lewis chooses not to involve himself in the process, maybe he should step aside and let someone else represent the needs of the constituents of the 41st district.

If you want to see another Democrat in Congress strongly coming back against GOP lies and misinformation the way Pat Meagher has with Jerry Lewis, please consider donating to his congressional campaign. And remember, even $5 and $10 donations mount up and help our candidates let the voters know that there really is a choice.