[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 115 (Tuesday, July 28, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H8892-H8893]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               A GOVERNMENT TAKEOVER IS NOT THE SOLUTION

  (Mr. WALDEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I was a small business owner for 21 years. 
There is no question that it's time to reform the health care system, 
but a government takeover is not the solution. Putting a government 
bureaucrat

[[Page H8893]]

between your family and your doctor is not the solution, and losing the 
health plan you have today is not a solution. Yet the Democrats' bill 
would do just that. It puts a bureaucrat between you and your doctor. 
It doesn't have real reform. According to independent analysis, two out 
of three Americans won't be able to keep their plans, and it does 
nothing to bring down the costs. In fact, it drives up the deficit by 
over $239 billion.
  Meanwhile, if you're out in places like Oregon, rural Oregon, the CEO 
of Asante Health System, Roy Vinyard, in southern Oregon, said the 
government option under the Democrats' plan would be the death knell 
for hospitals since it pays Medicare rates. Currently, Medicare only 
pays 76 percent of their hospital's costs, and yet 52 percent of their 
patients are on Medicare. If the percentage of Medicare-like payments 
increases to 75 percent of their patients, the hospital will have to 
close its doors.
  So that plan does nothing to rein in costs. It does nothing to keep 
the doors open. We need to reform health care, but let's do it in a way 
that puts patients first and that doesn't destroy small business.

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