[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 33 (Tuesday, March 9, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H1177]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          AMERICAN PEOPLE DON'T WANT CURRENT HEALTH CARE BILL

  (Mr. ROE of Tennessee asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, Democrats are once again rushing 
to meet an artificial deadline to pass their government takeover of our 
Nation's health care system, and it is clear that the majority of the 
American people don't want this bill.
  Republicans have been clear about why reforms being proposed should 
be scrapped. This proposal will increase costs, decrease quality, and 
decrease access to care for the vast majority of Americans. I can say 
this unequivocally as a physician and as a Tennessee resident who has 
experienced TennCare, our State Medicaid program, firsthand. Small 
businesses that are dealing with the worst recession in decades will 
have to lay off workers and cut back on wages to deal with the new 
mandates.
  The end result is what we are dealing with in Tennessee right now: 
rationed care. To meet its budget, the State is limiting TennCare 
patients to eight visits per year to a physician and $10,000 paid to 
providers, no matter what the costs.
  While we can't make our State Medicaid program work as is, Democrats 
in Congress want to expand it. In the end, what is happening in 
Tennessee will happen to everyone in America, and that is the wrong 
solution.

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