[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 104 (Wednesday, July 27, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1640-E1641]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            HEALTH CARE WEEK

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. TAMMY BALDWIN

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 27, 2005

  Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to voice my disappointment in 
the bills that the House of Representatives is considering during this 
so-called ``Health Care Week.''
  While I applaud House leaders for turning their attention to the 
health care crisis, I do not believe that the bills we are considering 
will solve the problem we face, and I fear that some of these measures 
may actually worsen the crisis. I look forward to the day when we will 
consider real solutions to ensure that all Americans have access to 
quality, comprehensive, affordable health care.
  According to the latest figures released by the Census Bureau, 45 
million Americans are uninsured. Millions more are underinsured. Just 
last month, the Commonwealth Fund released a study estimating that 
there are 16 million Americans who are underinsured--meaning their 
insurance would not adequately protect them in the event of 
catastrophic health care expenses. That means that 61 million Americans 
either have no health insurance or have insurance coverage that leaves 
them exposed to high health care costs. Sixty-one million is nearly 21 
percent of all Americans, or one in five. Put simply, this is 
unacceptable.
  Unfortunately, the health care legislation that the House will 
consider this week fails to address our nation's health care crisis. 
These bills will not do anything to provide quality, comprehensive, and 
affordable health care to these 61 million Americans or to the millions 
more who constantly worry about losing their health care.
  As in years past, I remain opposed to proposals to create 
``association health plans'' or AHPs. AHPs purport to offer affordable 
health care to small business owners and employees, but this is 
accomplished by exempting insurers from state insurance and consumer 
protection laws including benefit mandates, solvency standards, and 
pricing rules. This evasion of state laws could be devastating to the 
consumer who thinks that they have comprehensive coverage only to 
discover, after the fact, that their policy offers a bare bones minimum 
of benefits.
  In addition, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that AHPs will 
cause 10,000 people

[[Page E1641]]

to lose their health care coverage. Because AHPs are exempted from 
state insurance laws, AHPs can ``cherry pick'' the healthiest employees 
and deny coverage to those who are more costly to cover. This would 
drive up insurance premiums for everyone who remains in state-regulated 
insurance plans, making health insurance less affordable and forcing 
people to drop their insurance because of rising costs. I recognize the 
frustration and struggles faced by the self-employed and small business 
owners trying to provide health care to their employees, but AHPs are 
not the answer to the uninsurance crisis, if they will result in more 
people becoming uninsured.
  Similarly, the House will consider a medical malpractice bill that 
will fail to lower health care costs for Americans. Proponents of this 
bill claim that rising costs of medical malpractice insurance and 
``excessive litigation'' are driving up health care costs so much that 
caps must be instituted, placed on the amount of money a victim of 
malpractice can receive for a lifetime of pain and suffering or other 
non-economic damage.
  Unfortunately, these caps will have little effect except to limit 
patient rights to sue for medical injury. Numerous studies have shown 
that medical malpractice awards, legal fees, and other costs account 
for less than one percent of the nation's health care spending. This 
bill represents nothing more than a false promise.
  Soaring malpractice insurance rates need to be addressed with two 
principles in mind. First, do no harm to the victims of medical errors. 
Second, start addressing insurance abuses by focusing on the 
malpractice insurance industry, not the victims of medical malpractice. 
Narrow federal caps on non-economic damages are not the way to address 
the problems with malpractice insurance.
  Health care costs are rising for many reasons. Given the relatively 
small role that medical malpractice verdicts and settlements play in 
rising health care costs, this bill is really more of a distraction 
that is keeping us from making headway on the real culprits. Congress 
should leave regulation of insurance and tort law to the states. 
Congress should not spend its time demonizing victims and their 
advocates.
  Mr. Speaker, there are a number of underlying issues that come up 
when considering America's health care crisis: uninsurance, 
underinsurance, affordability, and quality, just to name a few. All 
Americans deserve quality, comprehensive, and affordable health care, 
and I look forward to the day when we will consider legislation that 
truly responds to these challenges.

                          ____________________