[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 104 (Tuesday, August 2, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


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

 
                GUARANTEED HEALTH INSURANCE ACT OF 1994

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Durbin] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. Speaker, last week the leadership of this House 
presented the Guaranteed Health Insurance Act of 1994, the final 
version of a bill which Congress has been working on for almost 2 
years.
  When compared to some of the earlier proposals, I believe this bill 
offers more of what the American people want and less of what they do 
not want.
  First and foremost, as this chart illustrates, this plan will 
guarantee health care that can never, even be taken away, not when you 
lose your job, not when you are struck by a serious illness, not when 
the insurance company wants to cancel your coverage.
  I had a town meeting in Taylorville, IL, about 10 days ago. A 
gentleman was standing by the side of the room and he said to me, ``Do 
I look to you like I am unhealthy?'' I said no, not at all. He said, 
``Well the fact is, despite my young age, I had a stroke 4 or 5 years 
ago.'' He said ``it was very minor. He said, ``It has not affected 
anything I can do, but the fact that I have had a stroke means that I 
cannot buy hospitalization insurance.''

  If you think that is a exception, I am afraid it is not. There are 81 
million Americans today who have a preexisting condition. They have 
been treated for cancer. They may have had some back surgery. They may 
have had a heart problem. They may be diabetic, a series of different 
things that might disqualify them from hospitalization insurance or in 
fact cause them to pay premiums their families cannot afford.
  The interesting thing about the health care reform debate is that so 
many Americans, fortunate as I am and the other 9 million Federal 
employees who have Federal health insurance programs, we tend to tune 
out this debate and say this is somebody else's problem. This is an 
issue for somebody else to worry about. But in fact, each of us is an 
illness away from being as vulnerable as the man who came to my town 
meeting.
  What we are trying to do with health care reform is say once and for 
all to the health insurance industry: You cannot do this to the 
American people. You have to put us all together in community rating, 
the same pool, spread the risk and not cut off a family because the 
child that is going to be born to them may be born with a problem. That 
to me is not only fair, it is sensible, and it is the kind of reform we 
will achieve with the health care reform act before Congress.
  It makes sure in this plan that every single American is covered. 
That is the only way we can control costs. We have got to get every 
American under the tent paying their own way as best they can.
  Today, 37 million Americans are uninsured. People show up for 
treatment when they are in serious trouble, and we end up shifting the 
cost of this treatment to someone else.
  The gentleman from California who spoke before me said small 
businesses should not be required to insure their employees. I beg to 
differ with him. Those employees of small business who do not have 
health insurance today are being protected by the rest of us who are 
paying premiums and taxes and are in fact picking up the cost of those 
businesses which do not cover their own employees. I do not think that 
is fair, and it certainly does not give any peace of mind to the 
employees of small businesses.
  I do believe, and this bill believes that we should help the smaller 
businesses which may face serious problems in paying for health 
insurance so if they have a lower number of employees we give them a 
helping hand to pay for that insurance. But it is only fair that every 
business accept a shared responsibility, employers and employees, and 
that this become the American way of doing things. Too many Americans 
think the 37 million uninsured are poor, unemployed young people. All 
three are wrong. The poorest in America are already taken care of by 
Government health insurance.

                              {time}  1720

  Eighty-five percent of the uninsured in my district work for a living 
at a job that does not provide health care benefits. They are not young 
people. Over half of them are over the age of 30.
  I did a television show last week with a colleague of mine in 
Illinois. We made this point on the air. When it was finished a young 
lady at the studio nearby came up afterward and said, ``I am glad you 
made that point, Congressman. I am a single mother, two kids, no health 
insurance for 6 years. I show up every day behind that camera and do my 
best to make a living.''
  Those are the folks who should be protected. Those children should be 
protected. This plan will make sure that that happens.
  It is going to guarantee our freedom to choose our own doctor. I want 
that freedom. I want to make sure I can pick the right doctor for me, 
the right doctor for my family. I also want to make sure that I can 
afford that doctor, once making that choice, and this health care 
reform plan will do that. It also says if you are set about changing 
jobs, insurance will stay with you.
  Do you know that two-thirds of the American people when asked say 
they are afraid to change jobs for fear of what it might do to their 
health care benefits?
  I would conclude by saying this health care reform plan we are 
proposing meets the basics the American people are looking for. I 
implore my colleagues and all those listening to listen closely to this 
debate during the next several weeks.

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