[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 71 (Wednesday, May 19, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H3233]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HEALTH CARE IS NOT BETTER OFF

  (Mr. WAXMAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the audience here 
today.
  Are we better off now than when President Bush took office? When you 
look at health care it certainly does not look like it.
  Since President Bush took office an additional 3.8 million Americans 
are uninsured, and for Americans lucky enough to have health insurance, 
their premiums have increased by almost 50 percent since President Bush 
took office. In fact, total family premiums have risen more than $2,700 
in 4 years, a rate four times as fast as workers' salaries. This is 
basically a tax increase on the middle class. It is hard to be healthy 
when you have to choose between paying rent and going to the doctor.
  This is a real crisis. It has real consequence. Eighteen thousand 
people die prematurely each year because they do not have health 
insurance. And how do the administration and the Republicans running 
the Congress respond? With special interest proposals like tort reform, 
health savings account and association health plans.
  These proposals will not lower health care costs. We are not better 
off in these last 4 years.

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