Health Care

Floor Speech

Mr. DURBIN. The major thrust of the remarks of the Senate Republican leader, day after day, has been in opposition to health care reform. I will tell you that I think the Republican leader is out of step with America. America understands we need to do something about our health care system. We are spending twice as much per person for health care in America as any nation on Earth--twice as much--and the medical outcomes, unfortunately, do not reflect that kind of major investment. In other words, we are wasting money in our current health care system.

That has to change. So what we need to do is preserve those things in our health care system today that are good and fix the things that are broken, and that is what the President has challenged us to do. This is not something new. This challenge has been waiting for 15 years since former President Clinton tackled it and, unfortunately, could not pass it. We have seen our health care costs in America continue to skyrocket and our costs for health insurance following in track. Now we have to do something about it.

Time and again, the Senator from Kentucky comes to the floor and says: We are rushing into this. I would just say to him that in the year 2008 the Senate Finance Committee, under Chairman Max Baucus, held 10 hearings on health reform and a day-long bipartisan summit with the Finance Committee's ranking member, Republican Chuck Grassley. This year, the Finance Committee has held two reform-related hearings, three roundtabless, three walk-throughs with policy options, and a number of closed-door sessions to discuss all of the issues on a bipartisan basis. The HELP Committee, which is another committee of the Senate also considering health care reform, has held 14 bipartisan roundtabless, 13 committee hearings, and 20 walk-throughs. Democrats are not rushing this through. We have taken this up in an orderly way, trying to analyze one of the most significant challenges ever facing Congress.

Time and again, Senator McConnell has also come to the floor and argued that Americans should be afraid of change, be afraid, be very afraid. He argued before be afraid of closing Guantanamo; now he is saying be afraid of health care reform. This is not a fearful nation. We are a nation which accepts challenges and does our best to try to find solutions. We are a good and caring nation of people who want to make certain that, at end of the day, we reduce the cost of health care for everyone, bringing it more in line with efficiency and effective medical care, and we also pick up the 50 million Americans who have no health insurance and give them protection, bring them under the umbrella of protection. We should not be afraid of that challenge. Why would we be afraid? We know if we don't tackle it, it will continue to cost us more and more money.

One of the things the Senator from Kentucky says repeatedly, which is just plain wrong, is that under the proposals coming before the Senate, the government can take away health insurance people have today. I am sorry the Senator is not on the floor. I am sure some Members of his staff will alert him to the fact. I would like to read from the language from the HELP Committee bill which is presently being considered. This language makes it abundantly clear,--in fact, says directly--that we can keep our health care plans, that they would not be taken away. That is something most Americans want to have the benefit of. Let me read from the HELP Committee bill that will be considered by the Senate:

Nothing in this Act or an amendment made to this Act shall be construed to require that an individual terminate coverage under a group health plan or health insurance coverage in which such individual was enrolled prior to the date of enactment of this title.

That is what it says. If one likes their health insurance today, nothing we do in health care reform will take that way from them. It is expressly stated. Time and again, Senator McConnell comes to the floor and says the opposite: Government is going to take away your health insurance. The clear language of the bill says: No, that is not our intention. That is not what we are going to do.

I am also concerned when I listen to the Senator from Kentucky talk about government-run health care. He says it in negative terms, as if the government's involvement in health insurance and medical care is inherently wrong or misguided or ineffective. Here are the realities: 45 million Americans out of 300 million currently are covered by Medicare. Does the Senator from Kentucky want to eliminate Medicare, a government-run health care plan? I am waiting for him to say that. He has never said it. Another 60 million Americans are under Medicaid, which provides health insurance for the poorest among us and those who are disabled. So 105 million Americans today have either Medicare or Medicaid. That is a third of America being covered by government-run health care. That is a reality. Most Americans understand there are very positive things to be said for those plans. Would we do without Medicare; would we abolish it? I certainly wouldn't be part of that. In over 40 years, Medicare has brought peace of mind, dignity, and great medical care to millions of seniors across America. I wouldn't want to see that go away. I think it is a program that has served us well.

A question was asked recently by CNN: In general, would you favor or oppose a program that would increase the Federal Government's influence over the country's health care system in an attempt to lower costs and provide health care coverage to more Americans? The numbers that came back on May 15, by CNN: 69 percent of the American people favor that statement, favor more government involvement in health care to reduce cost and expand coverage. Only 29 percent oppose. The position argued by the Republican leader does not reflect America's feelings about health care.

If Senator McConnell feels the current health care system is fine and we should not work to change it, he does not, I am afraid, reflect the feelings of most Americans. We can do better. We need to do better on a bipartisan basis. We need cooperation on the Republican side of the aisle in a bipartisan effort to find real solutions, compromise that would not compromise the values of our American health care system but give people a health care program that would not be taken away from them by some health insurance company bureaucrat, something the family can afford, something small businesses can afford.

We can do it. We should not be afraid. America has tackled bigger challenges in the past.

I yield the floor.

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