Representative Dave Camp was just diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
Dave Camp is a leader in the Republican Party, the Chairman of the House ways and Means Committee. Dave is committed, like all his Republican brethren, to repealing the Affordable Care Act.
Camp also said the plan to repeal ObamaCare is a pressing priority for his committee, which has oversight responsibility for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and over Obama’s health care rationing czar, CMS Director Donald Berwick.
“We are still on a plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare. We want to repeal ObamaCare in full. That’s going to be one of the signature items that we [will] work on. It increases health care costs. It creates this huge government bureaucracy. It’s going to cause people to lose the health care that they know and like. There are lots of problems with it,” Camp said.
“We can move toward defunding parts of it if for some reason the repeal fails. We will also work to repeal parts of it if the full repeal doesn’t work, but the focus remains on trying to repeal the whole thing, because it’s not sustainable the way it is, and we need to make a change there,” he said.
Dave will get the best treatment for his illness that money can provide. He and his doctors expect he will make a full recovery. He has the
FEHBP government provided, taxpayer subsidized Rolls Royce health insurance.
Probably Dave and his family members did what most people do when they receive a devastating diagnosis. They took a deep breath, they prayed, and then thanked God, the American taxpayers, and the baby Jesus they have five star government health insurance.
Keep in mind, the policy Dave and all members of Congress have begins with the word "Federal"--the Federal Employee Health Benefit Plan. This is run right out of the much loathed Washington DC. It is administered by a Federal agency--the US Office of Personnel Management. I have no doubt that Dave loves his government health plan.
At the 2010 White House Summit on health reform, Dave was very outspoken about what people with pre-exisiting conditions should do.
He really said this, folks. Does anyone think Dave would want to give up his federal insurance and fend for himself in the state run Michigan high risk pool?
CAMP:
Thank you very much. On the issue of insurance reform and pre-existing conditions, there are responsible ways to solve this problem and reduce the cost of health insurance for everyone.
And we support state universal access programs that address high- risk pools and reinsurance, that makes affordable coverage available to those who are sick and those who have a pre-existing condition.
45,000 Americans are not as lucky as Dave. Every year these Americans die simply because they don't have health insurance.
So the next time you see the Republican leadership or Mitt Romney railing about repealing "Obamacare", remember one their own is quite ill, and will likely survive because he has the government insurance, he and his ilk seek to deny the rest of us.
Let's all wish Mr. Camp a speedy recovery. Maybe as he embarks on this journey of cancer treatment, he'll meet fellow citizens not as lucky as he is, facing financial ruin and a grim future because they too have cancer but no insurance .
