Service Members Home Ownership Tax Act Of 2009

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, there has been a lot of talk about taxes and health care. What we are discussing is this bill. It is a large bill, over 2,000 pages, but we needed all these pages because we are tackling one of the biggest problems facing America. How can we take a health care system that consumes $1 out of every $6 or $7 in our economy and change it for the better, keeping what is good but changing those things that are not so good? One of the things that concerns most of us is the cost of health insurance premiums. Ten years ago, an average family of four paid $6,000 a year for health insurance. Now that is up to $12,000. If we are not careful, in 8 years it is projected to double again to $24,000 a year for health care premiums. Think about that, trying to earn $2,000 a month in 8 years just to pay for your health insurance, nothing else. That is beyond the reach of individuals and beyond the reach of a lot of businesses. Even today, businesses are dropping people from coverage.

We now have some 50 million Americans without health insurance, and more and more businesses are just putting their hands up and saying: We can't go any further in paying higher premiums.

Individuals who go out on the open market know what they run into. You know you will run into the highest possible premiums and rank discrimination. Try to buy a health insurance policy if you have any history of illness. They will tell you: We are not covering that. Cancer in your background; we will not cover it. That is what people face. This current system is unsustainable. We have tackled it, and we said we are going to put the time in to change it for the better. This is our bill.

I would like to hold up in my other hand the Republican plan for health care reform, but it doesn't exist. They don't have a plan. They have speeches. They have press releases. They have charts. But they don't have a plan. I am talking about a plan that has gone through the rigors of being carefully reviewed by the Congressional Budget Office, a plan that is comprehensive, something that addresses all the problems in this system in a responsible way.

They have bills. They have ideas. I don't want to say anything negative about them, though I may disagree with them. But they don't even come close to being a comprehensive plan. Many of the critics on the other side come to the floor every day and give speeches about what is wrong with the Democratic health care plan because they don't have one. If they did, we would have heard about it. You would have thought it would have been the first amendment offered by the Republican side, if they truly have such a plan. Of course, they don't.

What does this plan do? First, it makes health insurance more affordable.

We have the Congressional Budget Office telling us: Yes, the projected increase in health insurance premiums is going to flatten; it is going to come down a little. It doesn't mean that automatically people are going to see their premiums coming down next year, but they may not go up as fast. And over time, we won't see them doubling as quickly as had been predicted.

Secondly, this is a plan which is going to mean that 31 million Americans who currently have no health insurance will have health insurance. That is pretty important. In all the criticism I have heard from the other side of the aisle, there has not been a single proposal from the Republican side that would expand in any significant way the amount of coverage for Americans when it comes to health insurance. But here are 31 million Americans who will at least have the peace of mind of knowing when they go to bed in the evening that if tomorrow there is a bad diagnosis or a terrible accident, they will be covered; they will have peace of mind they can go to the best doctors and hospitals in America. That is significant.

There is another element too. We know that right now the health insurance companies really have the upper hand when it comes to negotiating for coverage. You know what I am talking about. Your doctor says: I think you need the following procedure, but I have to check with your insurance company. Think about that. We may be the only Nation on Earth where a clerk working for an insurance company has the last word about life-or-death medical care. That is what is going on today.

This bill makes significant changes when it comes to health insurance. It protects individuals from being discriminated against because of preexisting conditions, makes sure the companies can't run away from coverage when you need them the most, and extends the coverage and protection for children and families. These are important things that are going to mean a lot to people across America.

But now comes the Republican side of the aisle and says: Oh, but they didn't tell you the real story. It is all about your taxes going up. Well, I am afraid that is not quite right. The criticism I have heard on the floor about this bill ignores the obvious: this bill provides the most significant tax cuts in the history of this country--$440 billion in cuts over the next 10 years. What kind of tax cuts? If you are making less than $80,000 a year, this bill says: We will be there to help you pay the premiums. That doesn't exist today. If you don't have coverage under Medicaid and you are buying health insurance and your income is below $80,000 a year--we are providing tax cuts to millions of Americans so they can afford their health insurance, the biggest tax cut, I think, in the last 20 years or more. In addition, there are tax breaks for smaller businesses. If you have 25 or fewer employees, we will help you and your business provide health insurance for your employees. That is significant.

In fact, the Joint Committee on Taxation takes a look at the new taxes charged and the tax cuts that are in the bill, and they say Americans will pay 1.3 percent less in taxes in 2017 as a result of the bill. So the tax burden on Americans starts to come down while insurance coverage goes up.

But don't forget the hidden tax we pay today. When people show up at the hospital without health insurance, they get care. They see a doctor, they may have x rays and all the procedures and all the medicines. But if they can't pay, the hospital charges the other patients. We all pay. About $1,000 a year is paid by families now for those who have no health insurance. As more and more Americans are covered, that burden stops shifting over to those who have insurance, and that is a good thing. That hidden tax is largely ignored by the other side of the aisle, but we know it is a reality.

We also think these tax credits will make insurance more affordable. The Joint Committee on Taxation says that by 2017, these tax credits in the bill will reduce taxes by $40 billion a year for millions of Americans.

We also hear a lot said about the excise tax on insurance policies at the higher levels. That is a tax not on individuals but on the insurance companies as a disincentive to keep running up the cost of premiums and instead try to bring efficiency and cost-effectiveness into quality care.

Health reform is good for our economy too. A lot of businesses that are trying to offer health insurance find that they lose their competitive edge as the cost goes up. So as we start bringing cost down, it means more competition, more job creation, and a greater economy.

I can understand why the other side of the aisle has spent most of their time finding fault with this bill. In fact, that is part of their responsibility in the Senate. But I had hoped, at the end of the day, they would have offered their substitute, their idea on how we can truly achieve health care reform. The fact they have not reflects one of two things: It is a very tough job to do. This is a big bill, it took a lot of work, and perhaps they couldn't come up with a bill themselves. As an alternative, maybe they like the current system. They may like the health insurance companies and the way they treat Americans. They may think it is okay that the cost of premiums will continue to skyrocket beyond our reach. Most Americans disagree, and I do too.

I yield the floor.

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