[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 109 (Tuesday, August 9, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 9, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                            HEALTH CARE NOW

                                 ______


                       HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, August 9, 1994

  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, as we move toward 
consideration of health care reform, I was reminded yet again of the 
importance of this issue while reading my hometown paper, the Dallas 
Morning News. In the August 7, 1994, edition, the Morning News reported 
that 55 percent of Americans believe that health care should be the 
Government's top priority.
  The American people have been focused on the issue of health care 
reform. Unfortunately, through various campaigns from special 
interests, the information which has been disseminated has been 
inaccurate.
  Many Americans, in a longstanding tradition of fierce independence, 
want to make sure that the Government is not running the health care 
system. The Guaranteed Health Insurance Act of 1994, crafted by the 
House leadership, provides for private health insurance for all 
Americans. That which Americans value most, freedom of choice, will be 
maintained under the act, by making sure that employees have the 
ability to choose their own doctor.
  All Americans will have private insurance, which is the most 
important part of the package. Only by generating a pool large enough 
to end the cost shifting that currently exists in the system can small 
businesses be helped. When the Republicans claim that only insurance 
reform to do away with preexisting condition exclusions is necessary to 
fix what is broken, ask yourself who will pay for these reforms. If 
only insurance reform is enacted, what will be the result? Those with 
preexisting conditions are excluded by insurance companies because 
those companies cannot make a profit by providing them with coverage. 
Why? Because, very often, those individuals use more medical services 
than others. Who will pay if exclusions are eliminated? Not, you can be 
sure, the insurance companies. Instead, those companies will raise 
their premiums to compensate for the new, often sick, individuals that 
will be covered. What will a relatively healthy young person of 25 do? 
Of course, that person will simply get out of the system, leaving those 
of us in the middle class, with families and children, to pick up the 
tab. Should the 25-year-old then become ill, without insurance, once 
again those of us in the middle class foot the bill. Reforms on the 
margin can often inflict harm on the middle, and a plan that only 
reforms the insurance industry will do just that. The cycle of higher 
and higher costs will continue.
  The alternative presented by the Guaranteed Health Insurance Act 
would give everyone the right and the obligation to have health 
insurance. The plan provides a wide range of choices of plans for 
individuals, and every American will have the ability to choose their 
own doctor. Like all other phases of life, with choice comes 
responsibility. Everyone will be responsible for their own health 
insurance as well. No one wants to have to pay for the health care of 
others, but that is exactly what the present system forces us to do. 
Small businesses who provide insurance to their workers pay for those 
businesses that don't, in the form of higher premiums and higher 
hospital costs. The Guaranteed Health Insurance Act would end this 
unfairness.
  In the end, as they always have, the American people want two things: 
quality and fairness. The Guaranteed Health Insurance Act gives both. 
Everyone being responsible for themselves is fair. The act, by setting 
aside money for continuing research and for academic health centers, 
assures us that we will continue to have the highest quality of health 
care in the world.
  We in this Congress have the opportunity to make effective change to 
the health care delivery system. With health care now constituting 
about 15 percent of our gross domestic product, it should be obvious to 
everyone that the process of reforming the health care system is a 
never-ending struggle. Nevertheless, when something is fair and right, 
it should be done. This Congress should pass the Guaranteed Health 
Insurance Act now. The American people, our reason for being here, are 
watching. Quality and fairness are what is demanded, and quality and 
fairness are what we can deliver.

                          ____________________