Debbie Halvorson, Are You Listening? - Caterpillar Says Health Care Bill Would Cost It $100M Per Year

Caterpillar Inc. said the health-care overhaul legislation being considered by the U.S. House of Representatives would increase the company's health-care costs by more than $100 million in the first year alone.

In a letter Thursday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio, Caterpillar urged lawmakers to vote against the plan "because of the substantial cost burdens it would place on our shareholders, employees and retirees."

The Peoria-based company said these provisions would increase its insurance costs by at least 20 percent, or more than $100 million, just in the first year of the health-care overhaul program.

"We can ill-afford cost increases that place us at a disadvantage versus our global competitors," said the letter signed by Gregory Folley, vice president and chief human resources officer of Caterpillar. "We are disappointed that efforts at reform have not addressed the cost concerns we've raised throughout the year."

Business executives have long complained that the options offered for covering 32 million uninsured Americans would result in higher insurance costs for those employers that already provide coverage. Opponents have stepped up their attacks in recent days as the House moves closer toward a vote on the Senate version of the health-care legislation.

A letter Thursday to President Barack Obama and members of Congress signed by more than 130 economists predicted the legislation would discourage companies from hiring more workers and would cause reduced hours and wages for those already employed.

Caterpillar noted that the company supports efforts to increase the quality and the value of health care for patients as well as lower costs for employer-sponsored insurance coverage.

"Unfortunately, neither the current legislation in the House and Senate, nor the president's proposal, meets these goals," the letter said.

I'm waiting to hear what Debbie Halvorson has to say about this, given how she's always saying her focus is on families. How many Illinois jobs will be lost over this? How many families will be forced out of work? Debbie Halvorson has said, "Families in this district are working harder and harder for less and less. They don’t need empty promises; they need real solutions right now." If Pelosi, Halvorson, and Obama get their way, people won't be working at all. And this is her "real" solution? This bill (along with her flip on cap and trade) will have devastating and long term effects not just on manufacturing, but small business and consumers as well. In other words, families. Illinois families. The unemployment, foreclosures, raised taxes and higher premiums soon to be suffered by Illinois families will be on your hands Congresswoman. And your conscience.