Health Care Reform

Floor Speech

HEALTH CARE REFORM -- (Senate - September 23, 2009)

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I rise with a group of my freshmen colleagues to discuss an issue that is on all our minds and on the minds of many Americans and that is the issue of health care reform. The subject most of us are going to address today is what happens if we do nothing on this critically important issue because we, as recent additions to this body, are united by a simple but important truth: the rising cost of health care is hobbling American business, stressing family budgets and, if we do nothing and it is left unchecked, it will explode our national debt.

While many of my colleagues have raised important and valid questions about some of the health care proposals, one of the things I hope all my colleagues will realize is that doing nothing to reform our health care system is a policy choice. It would be a misguided choice, an irresponsible choice, but it is a choice nonetheless.

Today, health care costs in America consume nearly 17 percent of our GDP. This is projected to grow to one-third of our GDP by 2040 if we do nothing. This chart shows this ever-escalating cost of health care and its percentage of our GDP. Here we see the cost in actual dollar amounts, $2.4 to $2.5 trillion spent on health care in the past year.

Our per capita health care cost is double that of virtually every other developed nation in the world--nations we compete against every day. As we come out of this recession and American business has to compete against these countries around the world, our economy is hobbled by costs that, on average, include $3,000 more per employee due to our higher health care costs than our competing nations.

If we look at an issue that is equally important and one that I know our colleagues, especially my freshmen colleagues, continue to raise--but we hear concerns about from our friends on the other side of the aisle--that is the concern about our Federal deficit. The primary cause of our Federal deficit and our overall debt is the increasing per-person costs of Medicare and Medicaid. We pay more and more dollars in the Federal budget each year to basically pay for the same level of care. As this chart shows, increasing Medicare and Medicaid costs alone will exceed all other Federal spending. Clearly, this situation is not sustainable.

In my home State of Virginia, since 2000, insurance premiums have increased nearly 90 percent, while wages have only increased 27 percent. If we do nothing, and this was reaffirmed by the Business Roundtable report just last week, nationwide insurance premiums are projected to double by 2016. This is of particular concern to small businesses. Today, small businesses are the only group that still pay retail for their health care services. Their size makes their bargaining power weak and makes them susceptible to enormous increases in health care premiums.

Once again, it is a policy choice. Doing nothing means exploding our Federal debt and deficit. Doing nothing means doubling health care premium costs for American families. Doing nothing means American companies will be less competitive in a global market and our small businesses will continue to pay retail for health care.

Mr. President, I think I speak for all my freshmen colleagues when I say we were not elected to do nothing. We did not run for office because we were satisfied with the direction of our Nation. We were elected to work together with willing Republicans and Democrats to help turn this country around. I hope this will be the first of a series of statements from the freshman class, who are not only here to point out the challenges we face but to join Senators from both sides of the aisle who are committed to getting things done.

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Mr. WARNER. I thank my colleague from Delaware for pointing out the enormous cost of inaction both to our Federal deficit and to families who are struggling with these costs.

Now I yield 4 minutes of our time to the distinguished Senator from Alaska.

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Mr. WARNER. I thank my friend from Alaska for pointing out, particularly, with small businesses, that in our current system they are the only people who pay retail for their health care expenses. Reform must rectify that.

I yield 4 minutes to the Senator from Oregon.

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Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Colorado.

We are hearing a common theme. These freshman Members all care about driving down cost, and they see health care reform as stimulative to the American economy and recognize that ensuring the growth of our economy means we have to get the deficit under control. That means driving health care costs down.

I yield 4 minutes to my colleague from New Mexico.

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