[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 30 (Thursday, March 9, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H794]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     THE RISING COST OF HEALTH CARE

  (Mr. PRICE of Georgia asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, the Centers for Medicare and 
Medicaid Services has released a report that details what most of us 
already knew, that health care costs are rising and they are rising at 
an increasing rate.
  The bureaucrats and the Members of Congress talk about SGR, they talk 
about pay-for-performance, and they talk about CPT codes. What is left 
out of the discussion is that which is most important, and that is the 
patient.
  As a physician for over 25 years, I know that the current health care 
road we are on continues to move us in the wrong direction. A patient-
centered system is necessary if we are to increase access to quality 
care.
  I ask my colleagues here in this Chamber to take a bipartisan 
approach to solving this issue: look at the numbers; read the reports; 
and, above all, listen to the American people. They are the families 
and the small businesses and the employers who are trying to provide 
health care coverage.
  America has the ingenuity, but we must also have the will to make the 
decisions necessary to get us on the right road in health care.

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