[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 76 (Thursday, May 8, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S3970]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HEALTH CARE OPTIONS

  Mr. DeMINT. Mr. President, we have many important issues in front of 
us. We have been talking a lot about energy this week, including the 
high cost of gasoline and problems with ethanol mandates and potential 
problems with the cost of electricity. As we look at ways to reduce 
pollution, certainly energy is important. We have also been dealing 
with flood insurance. There is no shortage of issues. But we know as we 
talk to our constituents around the country that at the top of their 
list of priorities is health insurance and health care and the ability 
to afford the policies that are out there.
  We have differences of opinion in the Senate as to how to deal with 
the uninsured in our country today. There is one philosophy that 
believes the government needs to be more involved; we need to expand 
government control of health care. There is another philosophy of which 
I am a part which believes that our job in the Senate and in the 
Congress and in the Federal Government is to make freedom work for 
everyone, and that includes people having the freedom to own their own 
health insurance. We believe when people do not work for a company that 
offers health insurance, they should have guaranteed access to 
affordable health insurance policies that they can take from job to 
job. I am encouraged that Senator McCain is on the side of freedom of 
choice and individual ownership of plans.
  We know if we are going to make individual plans work, we need to 
address the high cost of insurance. We know that is the biggest 
impediment to getting coverage when that coverage is not offered 
through an employer. In fact, nearly two-thirds of the uninsured are 
the working poor, and they cite the high cost of insurance as the 
primary barrier to accessing health coverage. We can talk about the 
uninsured, and we can talk about the high cost of insurance, but we 
need to address the real causes of the high cost of insurance. We know 
if we look at the policies, if we talk to those who offer the 
policies--the insurance companies--we know that mandates, government 
mandates on those policies have a lot to do with the high cost of 
insurance.
  States have passed more than 1,900 benefit mandates requiring 
insurance companies to cover everything from wigs to infertility 
treatments to acupuncturists to massage therapists. These may all be 
legitimate needs, but they are not legitimate mandates on insurance 
policies. When people are looking for a policy that meets their needs 
that they can afford, we cannot continue as governments--both State and 
Federal--to mandate that every policy cover every possible problem when 
individuals do not need those mandates to buy the policies they want. 
These mandates increase the cost of health insurance. According to the 
Congressional Budget Office, for every 1 percent increase in the cost 
of health insurance, 300,000 people lose their coverage.
  A few States are getting the message that mandates make health 
insurance more expensive. There are at least 10 States that provide for 
mandate-lite policies which allow individuals to purchase a policy with 
fewer mandates and so are more tailored to their individual needs and 
financial situation. There are now at least 30 States that require a 
mandate's cost to be assessed before it is implemented. These States 
are getting the message. Mandates are pricing individuals out of the 
insurance market.
  I have introduced legislation that addresses these growing problems. 
In December, Congressman John Shadegg of Arizona joined me in 
introducing the Health Care Choice Act. This legislation is important 
because it will allow consumers to shop for health insurance the same 
way they do for other insurance products. They can shop on line, by 
mail, over the phone, or in consultation with an insurance agent in 
their hometown.
  Specifically, the bill would let insurers licensed in one State sell 
to individuals in the other 49 States. Most people are surprised that 
you can't do that now because in every other product category we can 
buy products not only in every State but all over the world. But with 
health insurance, we have taken a different tact, a tact that has made 
health insurance much more expensive because we allow a few insurance 
companies to monopolize the market in 50 individual States.
  What we need is a national market for health insurance. Consumers 
will no longer be limited to picking only those policies that meet 
their State regulations and mandated benefits. Instead, they can 
examine the wide array of insurance policies qualified in one State and 
offered for sale in multiple States. This way, consumers can choose a 
policy that best suits their needs and their budget without regard to 
State boundaries. It makes a lot of common sense. Individuals looking 
for basic health insurance coverage can opt for a policy with a few 
benefits they need, and such a policy will be more affordable.
  On the other hand, consumers who have an interest in a particular 
benefit such as infertility treatments will be able to purchase a 
policy that includes that benefit. Equally important, it creates 
incentives for insurance companies to offer innovative and customized 
insurance products, and it will reduce the number of Americans who have 
sought but have been unable to afford insurance coverage.
  I am thrilled that Senator John McCain has made this legislation one 
of the cornerstones of his health insurance platform because health 
insurance coverage should not be dictated by State or Federal 
legislators. Families sitting around their kitchen tables should decide 
what their health insurance plan should cover. I believe Senator 
McCain's plan to address the gross health care inequity in the Tax Code 
and to harness the power of the marketplace through the interstate 
competition of insurance products, through that, Americans will be able 
to find affordable health insurance that offers more choice and better 
coverage. We know this is true.
  As we talk to insurance companies, if they were allowed to offer 
products for all 50 States under one set of regulations, or under 50 if 
they choose, if they are able to have a larger pool of members, they 
can spread the risk and lower the rates.
  The Health Care Choice Act is a commonsense way to let freedom work 
for every American, to let the free enterprise system work in health 
insurance as it does in almost every other area of our lives. I 
encourage my colleagues to consider the Health Care Choice Act and to 
move away from this idea that more government control, more government 
mandates is actually going to help us get more Americans insured.
  I thank the Chair, and I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.
  (The remarks of Mr. Coleman are printed in today's Record under 
``Morning Business.'')
  Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  (The remarks of Mr. Bond are printed in today's Record under 
``Morning Business.'')
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri is recognized.
  Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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