Seattle, WA- Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05), Vice Chair of the House Republican Conference, delivered the keynote speech at the Washington Policy Center’s (WPC) Health Conference in Seattle today.  Rep. McMorris Rodgers sits on the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees federal health care policy.  The WPC is one of Washington State's leading think tanks.

“We are united in our belief that expanding access to high-quality, affordable health care is not only critical for patients, it’s also critical to the long-term competitiveness of our economy,” said Rep. McMorris Rodgers in her speech.  “But, in my opinion, the health care reform bill that Congress passed last year was the wrong kind of reform – reform that will make things worse (not better) – for our patients, doctors and small business owners.”

Rep. McMorris Rodgers voted against the controversial Patient Protection Act because it will increase premiums for working families, increase taxes on small businesses, cut Medicare for seniors, and increase government spending by $2.3 trillion over 10 years, once it takes full effect.

In her speech, Rep. McMorris Rodgers advocated for her new bill, The State Flexibility Act.  This bill will fundamentally transform Medicaid from a federally-directed, one-size-fits-all program into a true partnership between the states and the federal government.

On Feb. 16, 2011, Rep. McMorris Rodgers and the WPC co-wrote an op-ed in the Seattle Times, Congress Must Provide States More Medicaid Flexibility.

On Wednesday, Rep. McMorris Rodgers will speak at a WPC health care conference in Spokane.  That event is open to the press.

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