The Congressional Black Caucus: Health Care

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. CLYBURN. I thank the gentlelady for yielding me this time.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to say to the American people that this whole issue of health care reform is something that needs to be focused on, not as an individual condition or situation but as to what is happening to the American families, as to what has happened to American businesses and as to what is happening to the American economy.

This is not about government-run health care. It's about removing insurance companies and costs from health care decisions, and it's about allowing you and your doctor to make those decisions. The status quo is not acceptable, and it is not sustainable. Here is why:

Every day, Americans are worried not simply about getting well but about whether or not they can afford to get well. Millions more wonder if they can afford preventative care to stay well. Premiums have doubled over the last 9 years, rising three times faster than wages. The average American family already pays an extra $1,100 in premiums every year for a broken system that supports 46 million uninsured Americans. For American businesses, soaring health care costs put American companies at a competitive disadvantage in a global economy. Small businesses are forced to choose between coverage and layoffs.

The broken health care system will cost us as much as $248 billion in lost productivity this year alone. We have the most expensive health care system in the world. We spend almost 50 percent more per person on health care than the next most costly nation, but we are no healthier for it. If we do nothing, in a decade we will be spending $1 of every $5 on health care. In 30 years, it will be $1 of every $3. Health care reform is curbing health care costs. It is the single best tool for deficit reduction.

Now I want to answer a question for all of the American people: What is in the reform plan for the average American?

Without reform, the health care costs for an average family of four is projected to rise $1,800 every year for years to come, and insurance companies will make more and more health care decisions. America's middle class deserves better.

Now, here is what is in this reform package for you: no more co-pays or deductibles for preventative care; no more rate increases for preexisting conditions, gender or occupation; an annual cap on your out-of-pocket expenses; group rates of a national pool if you buy your own plan; guaranteed affordable oral, hearing and vision care for your kids.

With this health care, there is greater choice. Keep your doctor and your plan if you like them. More choice with a high-quality public health insurance option competing with private businesses.

And so I want to say to the American people, this health care plan that we are marking up in the Energy and Commerce Committee over the next 2 days--and it's already been marked up in three of five committees in both houses of the Congress--is a plan that will say to the American people, You no longer have to worry about the cost shifting that's taking place in our current health care system; you will no longer have to worry about your premiums going up in order to cover that cost shifting for those people who do not have insurance. There will be stability in your families, there will be decreases in your premiums, and there will be an expansion in the coverage for all Americans. This is something we cannot afford not to do.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source