[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 18 (Tuesday, January 30, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H994]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             PRESIDENT'S HEALTH CARE PROPOSAL IS A BAD PLAN

  (Mr. COHEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, in the President's State of the Union 
address last week, he made proposals for what is essentially a tax 
increase on more than 30 million Americans. That's right, if Congress 
were to pass the President's health care plan, more than 30 million 
Americans, many of whom are middle-class workers who have fought hard 
to negotiate comprehensive health care plans with their employers, 
would be taxed by the Federal Government. Good health insurance, for 
those lucky enough to have it, would be jeopardized as many Americans 
would be pushed into the individual insurance market where insurers can 
refuse coverage to workers based on their health.
  That brings me to the least of these, those without insurance, a 
number which will grow under the President's plan. The Regional Medical 
Center at Memphis, the Med, a hospital that provides a disproportionate 
amount of service to the poor, could lose as much as $30 million a 
year. Tennessee could see Federal revenue to support hospitals, nursing 
homes and other health providers by as much as $300 million, and that 
would be an increase of taxes at the local level.
  The Med plays a critical role in delivering health care to the poor. 
Losing the specialty services of the Med would leave serious gaps in 
our health care system that serves the entire region around Memphis, 
including Mississippi and Arkansas.

                          ____________________