[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 38 (Tuesday, March 16, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H1451]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1245
                           HEALTH CARE REFORM

  (Ms. SPEIER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SPEIER. Madam Speaker, it's time for us to stop talking in 
generalities and gibberish. It's time to start talking about real 
people and their real experiences. One thing all of us can agree on is 
that we trust our doctors. I just received a letter from a doctor in my 
district, Michael Bresler, who is an ER doc. Four years ago, his 
insurance premium to Anthem Blue Cross for his family of four was $539 
a month. This year that same policy will cost him $2,008 a month, a 373 
percent increase since 2006. What makes this especially hard to take is 
that in 2005, Dr. Bresler and his practice were forced by Blue Cross to 
accept a contract with a 60 percent reduction in payments. Dr. Bresler 
calls Anthem Blue Cross ``robber barons.'' I assume he uses harsher 
language when he is not corresponding with Congress.
  Madam Speaker, this is not a fight among Democrats and Republicans. 
This is a fight between robber barons, the insurance industry, and 
American doctors, families and working people.

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