[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 21 (Wednesday, March 2, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 2, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
      MORE TESTIMONY ON THE NEED FOR UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE FOR ALL

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                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 2, 1994

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, it is easy to lose sight of what matters most 
in the health care debate. Special interest groups are spending 
millions to influence legislators and the American public alike. Some 
would have you believe that there is no health care crisis, that the 
status quo is where we should stay. To them, I would say, the status 
quo is a place where millions of Americans are uninsured and many more 
can barely afford to pay for what they have. Consider the letter I've 
just received from a widow living in Indiana:

       I'm 62 years old and have worked 43 and a half years in the 
     same factory. I am drawing $553 from Social Security. I am 
     paying $116.83 per month for my health insurance, plus a 
     premium for nursing home care. And this does not pay for 
     everything. When I go off COBRA in 1995, my premium will be 
     $327.91 and frankly I can't afford it.

  Mrs. Burch favors a plan which would collect premiums for health 
insurance through a system similar to Social Security.

       The government would be collecting the money, so there 
     would be money to pay the bills. Some people don't trust the 
     government to handle this, but Social Security has worked 
     pretty good for millions of citizens. Frankly, I don't trust 
     the insurance companies.

  During the 103d Congress I introduced a plan that would cover every 
American by expanding Medicare, a system that now serves 35 million 
people, while containing costs and maintaining services better than 
private health insurance. Now called H.R. 2610, the Mediplan model 
meets the needs of people like Mrs. Burch, who want to help pay for 
their own health care, but on a more reasonable scale.
  ``Please consider these ideas,'' Mrs. Burch said. ``All our people 
are counting on you in Congress to hear our prayers.''

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