On September 25, 2013 Rep. Michael C. Burgess asked for and was granted permission to address the United States House of Representatives for one minute regarding questionable actions by the Obama Administration and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in connection with what he calls “the President’s takeover of healthcare.”
“Mr. Speaker, once again, the President is trying to mislead and hide the truth from the Congress and the American people. The Department of Health and Human Services released a report yesterday on the pricing of health plans on the Federal exchanges–a perfect example of bureaucratic doublespeak.”
“The report was quick to say that rates were 16 percent under their projections. Well, that sounds great, but what were their projections? Does that mean the rates will increase or decrease? They went to a lot of trouble to avoid answering that question. Some digging by Forbes Magazine, however, uncovered the truth. For 40-year-olds, rates will increase by an average of 99 percent for men, and 62 percent for women. It seems that the truth is a lot different”, he said.
“The biggest problem, however, isn’t the rate increase. With only 5 days left until implementation, the administration is unwilling or incapable of answering even basic questions. The data they released was only partial data samples. It’s time for the Department of Health and Human Services to stop playing games and hiding the truth, and time to give the American people the full truth about what the President’s takeover of health care really means”, said Rep. Burgess (source: Congressional Record http://thomas.loc.gov).
Rep. Burgess serves on the following Committees and Subcommittees in the House of Representatives:
Vice Chairman, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. Jurisdiction for this subcommittee includes: responsibility for oversight of agencies, departments, and programs within the jurisdiction of the full committee, and for conducting investigations within such jurisdiction.
Member, Subcommittee on Energy & Power. Jurisdiction for this subcommittee includes: national energy policy generally; Fossil energy, renewable energy resources and synthetic fuels, energy conservation, energy information; Energy regulation and utilization; Utility issues and regulation of nuclear facilities; Interstate energy compacts; Nuclear energy; The Clean Air Act and air emissions; and, All laws, programs, and government activities affecting such matters.
In addition he serves as a member of the the Committee on Rules and member of the Helsinki Commission, the Republican Study Committee, and the House Republican Policy Committee.