[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 86 (Thursday, June 30, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 30, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
    URGING BIPARTISAN SUPPORT FOR UNIVERSAL COVERAGE IN HEALTH CARE

  (Mrs. SCHROEDER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. SCHROEDER. Mr. Speaker, we are hearing a lot of talk now about 
could we please have a bipartisan health care bill. I really do think 
we need a bipartisan health care bill, but the No. 1 thing that seems 
to be holding us up is whether or not we have universal coverage. I 
must ask, why pass a health care bill if we do not have universal 
coverage?
  We have all sorts of examples just in the last year of things showing 
that if we make it accessible to people, unfortunately, there are a lot 
of people who would rather go spend that monthly premium for something 
else, run the risk, and then if they get sick, they are in the 
emergency ward and all the rest of us pay the bill.
  Mr. Speaker, what are those examples? Let us look at the people who 
did not have flood insurance who lived in a flood zone. They could buy 
flood insurance. They knew they were in a flood zone. They did not. 
They asked the taxpayer to bail them out.

                              {time}  1020

  Look at people who did not have earthquake insurance, even though 
that they were in an area that had earthquakes, but they figured that 
the Federal Government would come bail them out.
  Mr. Speaker, I think unless we find a way to have everybody covered 
in the health care plan, unfortunately we will still find a lot of 
people who will not pay, but since no one knows if they are going to 
get sick or be injured or not, they will be in there and we will pay.
  I think universality is very important and we can have bipartisanship 
if we can get over that hurdle.

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