[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 90 (Tuesday, June 18, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H6425]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            HEALTH INSURANCE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Stearns). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of May 12, 1995, the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Gingrich] is 
recognized during morning business for 1 minute.
  Mr. GINGRICH. Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to report to my colleagues 
that we have a real opportunity in the next day or so to reach an 
agreement with the Clinton administration on guaranteed portability of 
health care, of health insurance with no preconditions. We are working 
very diligently in exactly the way we believe the House wants us to, to 
make sure that every working American who is in the insurance system 
will have a guarantee that if they change jobs, they can automatically 
get insurance without any preconditions for the rest of their life, so 
it will eliminate the major concern of working Americans.
  In addition, Mr. Speaker, we have a program which will extend a lower 
cost health care option, health insurance option, to the self-employed 
and small businesses. Most of the people who do not have health 
insurance, who are working, are either self-employed or work in small 
businesses. So if we can find a solution to a lower cost health 
insurance option, we give more Americans the ability to buy health 
insurance at lower cost. So we have both greater access and greater 
affordability. We give greater affordability through medical savings 
accounts, which lower the after-tax cost of buying insurance, and we 
get greater access by providing portability without any preconditions.
  I hope we are on the verge of a real breakthrough to get this agreed 
to. We have already gone to conference. The Senate Republicans are 
prepared to go to conference immediately, if we can simply get an 
agreement, and we are working very diligently to get this agreement. I 
wanted to report on that to my colleagues.

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