Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-Cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2005

HELP EFFICIENT, ACCESSIBLE, LOW-COST, TIMELY HEALTHCARE (HEALTH) ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - July 28, 2005)

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, they are asking what are we for and what is this bill all about? I will tell you what we are for, what this majority is for, and what this bill is about. It is about preserving access to health care in our local communities, lots of communities, like my Seventh District of Tennessee. It is not about sitting here and saying, oh, we think all it is going to take to address health care is a big, fat Federal Government. It is about access to health care in our local communities.

Americans know that our health care costs are soaring. They also know that trial lawyers many times view our hospitals and our health care providers as a limitless ATM.

That is the reason I cosponsored this legislation. My constituents have had enough. They have grown ill and fatigued with the stories that are out there, with seeing their local doctors run out of town, with seeing practices close up, and with knowing that they have access to less and less available health care. We know that only one in seven OB-GYNs now deliver babies for fear of being sued, and the national medical liability rate has risen almost 500 percent since 1976.

This is an issue that affects our families. It affects women. It affects children. It affects our rural communities. This bill is a way to assist in preserving health care for our local communities.

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