Senator John Barrasso (R- Wyo.) made the following statement on the Senate floor:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — When it comes to health care, Democrats and Republicans all agree we need and we want health care reform. Having practiced medicine for over two decades, I know that doing nothing is simply not an option.

But let me tell you from experience – the devil is always in the details. We must be careful, thoughtful, and deliberate about the changes we make. Health care is a very complex and intensely personal issue. It deserves a serious, open, and transparent national debate.

Still at issue is whether Congress will act without sacrificing our health care system’s greatest strengths:  The freedom to choose your own doctor and the freedom to choose the hospital you want.

I travel home to Wyoming every weekend. Many families worry they will lose the health coverage they currently have.  Still others cannot afford health insurance. This is what is wrong with the current health care system. That is what we need to fix.

Wyoming families want to purchase health insurance coverage at an affordable price. They do not want to be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. They do not want to lose coverage if they change jobs.  But most of all, these families do NOT want Washington telling them who they have to see for medical care.

Everyone should have the freedom to choose the doctor, the hospital, and the health care plan they want.  No Washington bureaucrat should ever be allowed to deny that right.

Democrats in Congress want to create a “government-run” health care plan. Their plan creates a government-run insurance model that could limit patient choices, eliminate personal freedoms, and decrease the quality of care.

According to the Lewin Group, 119 million Americans would lose the private coverage they currently have – if we have a government run system.

As a doctor, I can tell you from personal experience that the government will never compete on a “level playing field” with private business.  Washington will never let its health care plan go bankrupt. It will lose money. It will hide costs. And ultimately taxpayers will pay the difference.

So what does all this mean for you – the patient?  It means politicians making health care decisions, not patients. It means Washington bureaucrats deciding if you can have the hip and knee procedure you need. It means the government saying you cannot have lifesaving medical treatments because it is too expensive – or because you are too old.

The Senate HELP Committee has been debating a health reform plan put forth by Senators Kennedy and Dodd.  Last week, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office told us the Kennedy-Dodd plan increases spending by more than $1.3 trillion in the first 10 years.

That number is staggering. Even more disturbing is that the plan is incomplete.  So ten years and trillions of dollars later, CBO also tells us the Democrat plan only reduces the number of uninsured by 17 million.  That leaves approximately 37 million Americans without health insurance coverage.

The Democrat plan suffers from what I call the three “C’s”.  It costs too much.  It covers too few.  And it causes too many Americans to be thrown off the health policy they currently like and want to keep.

Some in Congress believe that unless we completely dismantle the current health care system – and build it up in the image of “Big Government” – then reform is simply not worth doing.  I disagree.

Americans do not want the same government bureaucracy that invented the Department of motor Vehicles controlling their medical decisions!  They want simple, practical, and affordable changes now.