[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 84 (Wednesday, June 22, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H4903]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             PATIENT CHOICE

  (Mr. PRICE of Georgia asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, as a third-generation physician 
who has practiced medicine for over 20 years, I have seen colossal 
increases in health care costs. Unfortunately, they do not seem to be 
slowing down. Health care costs are rising much faster than one can 
imagine, and in just the last year they have gone up by 8 percent. 
Employers continue to pass these costs on to their employees in the 
form of increased deductibles and payments for prescriptions and care. 
Employees have no choice but to pay these costs because they are stuck 
with somebody else making decisions about their care.
  It is time we start thinking about health care in a new way. It is 
time to put patients back in charge. Nobody knows better than the 
patients themselves what kind of health care they need.
  Mr. Speaker, change in our health care system is needed now more than 
ever before, and health care should respond to the needs of patients.
  H. Res. 215, the Health Insurance Patient-Ownership Plan, puts health 
care choices back into the hands of patients where they should be. I 
urge my colleagues to support H. Res. 215.

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