Health Care And Education Reconciliation Act Of 2010

Floor Speech

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Mr. MERKLEY. I thank the Senator so much. It is a pleasure to come here with my colleagues on the floor.

I know when all of my colleagues go home, they hear stories from their constituents about our broken health care system. That certainly is what I hear. I hear it in my townhalls. I hear it on the street, as people stop me and share their story. And I certainly hear it in my mail.

I have in my hand a few of the stories citizens in Oregon have sent to me. To give you a sense of the type of frustration we are hearing, Don writes:

Last year my premium went up 65 percent even though I've made no significant claims against my policy.

Or we can turn to Jane, who says:

..... we are subject to being turned down for health insurance [because] I have a chronic illness. .....

Or we can turn to Adrienne, who observes:

The medical debt was crushing, and we were forced to file for bankruptcy.

Or we can turn to Amanda, who says:

My daughter cut her finger. I took her to emergency, the hospital is a network provider. The ER Physician said she needed surgery. Okay, what do I know, they are the experts. It turns out that the Surgeon is not a network provider. She bills [me] over $9,000.00. .....

..... I have little hope. Do I file [for] bankruptcy?

Or we can turn to Art, who says:

In less than 5 years, I had to change my health insurance 5 times. It was never a matter of choice; I simply had to take whatever plan my employer decided to offer.

Or Dagne, who observes: When I started to fill out my insurance form, I had ``Questions such as `Have you ever had ..... ' ''--for instance, I had asthma.

And he goes on to describe his challenges. And the list goes on and on and on. That is why we are in this health care dialog. Because we need to fix our health care system that is broken for working Americans.

The bill we have passed and the President has signed has three terrific provisions. It creates State-based markets for health care policies, where consumers can shop for the best policy. These markets will increase choice and competition. Second, the bill ends insurance company practices that victimize our working families--practices such as turning people down for preexisting conditions or dumping them off of their policies when they are injured or when they have a disease. And, third, it invests in our provider workforce to counter the rapid retirement of baby boomers. Out in Oregon, we are going to lose 20 percent of our primary care physicians in the next 5 years, while many of us, as baby boomers ourselves, are going to need more health care.

So those things are huge challenges. This bill takes a stride that is very significant, and this week we will work to pass--with an up-or-down vote--a bill that will make further improvements to the bill the President signed yesterday.

I am pleased to join my colleagues in this fight to repair a broken health care system that is not working for our working citizens.

Thank you.

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