Health Care Reform

Floor Speech

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Mr. TONKO. Thank you, Representative Garamendi.

It is important, I believe, for us to recognize, as you're suggesting, the benefits that we're bringing because of this reform for Americans across this great country. Now, the chants that we heard today were concerned about taking away freedoms. I would suggest that as we look at the dynamics of this legislation, we're going to see great improvements--great improvements to access, to affordability, and to the quality of care, all of which are, indeed, important to our families, our individuals, and certainly to our businesses, as they continue to struggle with the cost of health care insurance.

As we think of these dynamics, it's important to know--and I look at the benefits personalized to my congressional district in upstate New York, in the capital region, and amongst those benefits is an improvement where 1,100 to 1,200 families will be spared the pain of bankruptcy. When you think of the growing dynamic that health care costs have as they relate to bankruptcy, it's staggering. It's staggering. Eleven hundred to 1,200 families will be saved from the ravages of bankruptcy driven by medical costs, health care costs.

I'm reminded with recent data that 62 percent of bankruptcies in this country are caused by exorbitant

medical fees, health care that is not covered even though in some cases people are insured. In fact, I'm reminded that of that 62 percent, 78 percent had insurance when they were impacted by this illness, by the catastrophic situation. That tells us something.

So we want to talk about freedoms. Yes, I want to provide for the freedom from bankruptcy, the freedom from claims being denied by insurance companies when you are insured. And as you indicated, Representative, in your home State of California, the number is staggering. I want to promote freedom--freedom from the greed of insurance executives who say the sky is the limit for compensation and the profit column rules the day.

These are the freedoms that we believe are important to the American public: freedom from bankruptcy; freedom from denied claims; freedom from ever-rising costs, premiums that are escalating beyond belief; freedom from grief. That's what we're talking about here.

And tomorrow will be an historic day as we look to change that situation and to strengthen the fabric of our American families and our business community as we continue with this employer-based health care delivery system that will allow us to go forward with a sense of access, affordability, and quality of care.

Thank you for bringing us together this evening, Representative Garamendi.

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