[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 61 (Wednesday, May 11, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H3162]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     IN SUPPORT OF MEDICARE FOR ALL

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend my remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Rehberg). Without objection, the 
gentleman from Ohio is recognized for 1 minute.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I want to agree with the gentleman from 
Florida that the American people are worried about many things 
including health care. And that is why I stand to ask the House for 
support on H.R. 676, a bill that will establish a U.S. national health 
insurance.
  A Kaiser Foundation poll found that 64 percent of Americans favor 
expanding Medicare to all. The Deans of Harvard and Stanford Medical 
Schools, 13,000 doctors, including the former editor of the New England 
Journal of Medicine and two former Surgeons General now support 
Medicare for All.
  By expanding Medicare to all, we will contain costs. Medicare boasts 
3 percent overhead. In contrast, the Medicare HMOs, 15 to 30 percent 
overhead. Medicare also has a much lower rate of spending increase than 
private health plans.
  Medicare for All will make the U.S. more competitive. GM and Ford are 
losing money in competitive advantage because other developed countries 
have universal health care. Ontario now makes more cars than Detroit. 
Canadian GM, Ford and other auto manufacturers have sent a letter in 
support of their single-payer health care system as a result.
  All over this country, Americans are looking for some help from the 
Congress of the United States on health care. It is time for us to come 
together, Democrats and Republicans alike, in defense of universal 
health care, Medicare for All.

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