[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 48 (Wednesday, March 15, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S3928]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, before I comment on the Kassebaum amendment 
that is before us, let me comment on a hearing I just came from that 
Senator Kassebaum and Senator Jeffords have chaired, on the whole 
question of health care and where we are going.
  The last few witnesses commented on the whole question of ERISA's 
assumption of responsibilities that prohibits States from moving ahead 
to have health care coverage for all their people.
  Frankly, we cannot have it both ways. The American people are, more 
and more, demanding some kind of health care protection. I had three 
town meetings a week ago Saturday in Illinois. One man got up at one 
town meeting and said, ``I am 59 years old, I have had a heart attack, 
I cannot get health insurance that I can afford. What is going to 
happen to me?'' When he said it, it started triggering others getting 
up, standing up, telling their stories.
  Every other Western industrialized nation protects all their people. 
We are the only one that does not. If that is a conscious decision we 
want to make, not to protect all of our citizens--and incidentally the 
number now is about 41 million that are unprotected and the projections 
that were made in the hearing yesterday are that will go to 50 million 
5 years from now. We have gone from 67 percent of employers covering 
their people in 1980, down close to 50 percent now. The problem is 
getting worse.
  But if the Federal Government is unwilling to act, we, at least, have 
to be willing to let North Carolina and Illinois and other States that 
want to protect all their citizens act. We can set it up in such a way 
that companies that are engaged in interstate commerce that protect 
their employees will be exempt by the State so we do not present a 
problem for business.
  But we cannot have it both ways. There are just too many people who 
are hurting. Mr. President, 50 million people in 5 years means one out 
of five Americans--really more than that, because those over 65 are 
already covered through Medicare. But more than one out of five 
Americans are without health care coverage. That is just not the kind 
of choice we can make. The people in the gallery up there, one out of 
five are not covered. No one wants to volunteer for that.

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