(Washington, DC) - On Thursday morning, October 29, 2009, the leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives unveiled the health care reform bill that is the merged product of the three different bills passed by the House Energy and Commerce, Education and Labor, and Ways and Means Committees - The Affordable Health Care for America Act, H.R. 3962.  Congressman Baron Hill began reviewing the bill this weekend and issued the following statement:

“Although I have a good working knowledge of what is in H.R. 3962, since the majority of the language was taken directly from the health care reform bill we worked on in the Energy and Commerce Committee, I certainly intend to go through this bill line-by-line.  Over the weekend, I did an initial read through of the bill, focusing heavily on the new language.  I’m pleased that important provisions I helped craft during the Energy and Commerce Committee markup are in this bill, such as bumping up the small business exemption and ensuring that a public plan will negotiate rates directly with providers and compete on a level playing field.  But, I’m also quite troubled by the heavy tax placed on medical device manufacturers – a large employer in Southern Indiana.  While I still have much more studying of this bill to do, I wanted to share my first reactions.  I would also encourage folks to continue sharing their thoughts and concerns with me by either calling or emailing my office.”

Constituents can read The Affordable Health Care for America Act in its entirety here, http://docs.house.gov/rules/health/111_ahcaa.pdf.