[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 176 (Tuesday, December 1, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12019-S12020]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           HEALTH CARE REFORM

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, here are two truths about the historic 
health care reform bill that is now before this body. First, it will 
save money, it will save lives, and it will save Medicare. Again, the 
legislation before this body will save lives, money, and Medicare.
  While this is a pretty good start toward that, the second fact is, 
there is always room for improvement for this bill. Of course, that is 
what the legislative process is all about. Senator Barbara Mikulski of 
Maryland has offered an amendment that does both. Her proposal would 
improve this bill by making sure women get, at no cost, the preventive 
screenings they need to stay healthy. These are important screenings 
that can catch potential problems as early as possible and that will 
save lives and save money.
  Health care premiums rise higher and higher every year. The insurance 
industry this year has already raised insurance rates an average of 10 
percent--an average. Of course, this is far faster than incomes in this 
country, and that is an understatement. As this happens, more and more 
women are simply skipping the important preventive care they need. Why? 
They are skipping screenings for cervical cancer, they are skipping 
screenings for breast cancer, they are skipping screenings for 
pregnancy. They are even skipping annual checkups and doctor visits 
that could flag serious problems, such as postpartum depression and 
domestic violence.
  Why is this happening? Do women simply care less about their well-
being? Of course not. Are diseases on the decline? Quite to the 
contrary. The only reason women are putting off going to the doctor is 
because, in our broken health care system, it simply costs too much to 
stay healthy.
  Senator Mikulski's amendment also makes clear that the decision of 
whether and when to get a mammogram

[[Page S12020]]

should be made by a patient and a doctor. It shouldn't be made by an 
insurance company, by Members of Congress or by someone you have never 
met. No matter what independent task forces recommend and no matter 
what some Republican Senators falsely claim, this legislation--the one 
before this body--offers free preventive services to millions of women 
who are being discriminated against by their insurance companies, and 
this amendment before this body makes that absolutely clear.
  Senator Mikulski has long been someone who has been a leader and has 
looked out for women's health. Years ago, she worked with me on a 
problem women have; 90 percent of the people who have a disease called 
interstitial cystitis are women. I discovered that when three women 
came to visit me in Las Vegas. It was a disease that was ignored. 
People thought it was psychosomatic. Working with Senator Mikulski, we 
had the National Institutes of Health set up a protocol. Now 40 percent 
of those people, who previously were thought to be psychosomatic and 
who suffered with symptoms they described as shoving slivers of glass 
up and down their bladder, are symptom free--not 100 percent but 40 
percent. It is easier to diagnose now.
  Senator Mikulski has also worked hard to have the National Institutes 
of Health set up a division for women's health problems. So she is a 
leader in this area, has been for a long time, and with this amendment 
she does it once again.
  I am sorry to see Republicans deliberately confuse the facts about 
women's health, particularly as they relate to mammograms. It shows how 
desperate some of them are to distract the American people from the 
real debate and from the fact they have no vision for fixing our health 
care system, which is so broken.
  I am even more sorry to say it is part of a larger trend. In recent 
days, they have been distorting the data from the Congressional Budget 
Office, an independent agency Republicans in the past have praised. 
What are they complaining about now, the Republicans? They are 
complaining about two of this Nation's top priorities: reforming our 
health care insurance system and helping our economy recover.
  First, on health care. The Congressional Budget Office said yesterday 
the majority of American families who buy insurance in the new 
marketplace we will create--what we call health insurance exchanges--
will see their premiums go down. They will go down by as much as 60 
percent. Out of 100 percent of the American people, 93 percent will 
have a drop in their insurance premiums with this legislation--93 
percent.
  CBO's experts aren't the first to recognize these benefits. 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Jonathan Gruber, who is one of 
the most respected economists in the world, said in today's Washington 
Post:

       Here's a bill that reduces the deficit, covers 30 million 
     people and has the promise of lowering premiums in the long 
     run.

  Pretty good statement. That means millions of Americans who today 
cannot afford coverage or whose medical bills drive them to financial 
ruin. Remember what I said yesterday as this debate began. Last year, 
750,000 people in America filed for bankruptcy. Almost 70 percent of 
the bankruptcy filings were because of health care costs. But of those 
people who filed for bankruptcy because of health care costs, 62 
percent of them had health insurance. Does that speak about a system 
that is in trouble? Of course it does.

  So I repeat: This bill will mean millions of Americans who today 
cannot afford coverage or whose medical bills drive them to financial 
ruin will be able to afford to stay healthy. It means, if we don't 
reform health care, millions more will find themselves in bankruptcy, 
bad health or worse.
  Second, on economic recovery. The Congressional Budget Office said 
yesterday the extraordinary steps we took to bring our economy back 
from the brink have created and saved hundreds of thousands of jobs. I 
will direct my comments to the American people but also to the brave 
Republicans who joined with us to make this possible--Senators Snowe 
and Collins. I want them to know that what they did helped us get that 
legislation passed and, according to the Congressional Budget Office, 
saved hundreds of thousands of jobs. The CBO said yesterday the 
extraordinary steps we took to bring our economy back from the brink 
have created or saved hundreds of thousands of jobs. Its estimate 
reaches as high as 1.6 million jobs, each one a direct result of our 
economic recovery plan. Pretty good. The same report also said our 
country's gross domestic product has gone up by as much as 3.2 
percentage points higher than it would have if we hadn't acted.
  Let us not do what our colleagues on the other side of the aisle are 
doing--betting on failure. This country is coming out of a hole that 
was dug by this administration for some 8 years. The facts are that 
what we did on a bipartisan basis in January and February has brought 
this country out of an economic hole. We still have a ways to go, no 
question about it. But we created 1.6 million jobs and increased the 
gross national product by as much as 3.2 percentage points. Pretty 
good. These facts tell us the same thing: Not acting is not an option.
  Some of my Republican colleagues prefer to close their eyes and ears 
to this reality. They prefer to play politics than to do what is right 
and what is necessary. They are content to say no, instead of offering 
constructive alternatives and a way to lead our country and our 
constituents back to health.
  At the beginning of this second day of debate, I say: Come along and 
work with us to improve this legislation. Try to improve it the way 
Senator Mikulski looked at it and said: This legislation can be 
improved. We want to work with the minority. We want to have 
legislation that is bipartisan. We don't want to do this alone. We need 
the Republicans' help, and I hope they will join with us. It would 
certainly look better. Let's stop berating this legislation before this 
body. If they do not like it, try to do something to make it better.
  As we know, this legislation saves lives, it saves money, it saves 
Medicare, and it brings down insurance premiums. That is a pretty good 
deal. And it brings down the debt. It saves $130 billion over the next 
10 years and, after that, $650 billion. Not bad. So the numbers they 
keep talking about are out of--I don't know where they come from. We, 
as a body, have used the Congressional Budget Office for 50 years. It 
is bipartisan. That is the way it should be. We should start talking 
real numbers, not fake numbers.

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