[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 58 (Wednesday, May 1, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H4308]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 DROP IDEA OF MEDICAL SAVINGS ACCOUNTS

  (Mrs. CLAYTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, our colleagues on the right continue to 
press for inclusion of the medical savings account proposal in the 
health insurance bill currently pending in Congress.
  Once again, they want to burden average, working Americans to benefit 
the wealthy and influential.
  According to the Urban Institute, if the medical savings account 
proposal is a part of the health insurance bill, premiums for a 
standard policy could skyrocket by as much as 60 percent.
  If the Republicans have their way, employers win big and employees 
lose; high income individuals win big and those earning less than 
$30,000 a year lose; influential insurance companies win big and 
average citizens lose.
  In addition, according to the Urban Institute, workers may be forced 
into a single insurance, losing their right to choose.
  Mr. Speaker, we have shaped a bipartisan health insurance plan where 
no citizen loses and all citizens win.
  I urge my colleagues on the right to drop this idea of MSA's--an idea 
which cases many to lose, and support the proposal where all Americans 
win.

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