[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 40 (Thursday, March 18, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H1634-H1635]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           HEALTH CARE REFORM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Lynn Woolsey 
and my colleagues here that came out tonight to speak about the issues 
that are going to be in this bill as we go forward for a vote sometime 
this weekend.
  Many of us have talked about health care for years. I'm talking about 
years. I think all the time when we go out to dinner or anything, 
health care always comes up. So when I hear charges against this side 
of the aisle of why are we rushing through this, let me tell you 
something. I've been in Congress going into my 14th year. Before that, 
I was a nurse for over 30 years. So when I came to Congress, the first 
thing I started working on is how can we improve health care. And this 
day is coming.
  Unfortunately, there's been an awful lot of information over the last 
several months that really is quite wrong. And a lot of my friends say, 
Well, why aren't the Democrats speaking out? I guess it's because, and 
I will speak for myself, many of us have been speaking up but, 
unfortunately, because we are not yelling and screaming, we are not 
heard.
  So what I'm going to explain to many, hopefully, of the people who 
are listening to this, I just want to tell you how this bill is going 
to help my district back on Long Island. I live in a middle class 
suburban area. I've been there for 62 years living in the same house. 
It was the house of my parents. My family grew up there, and I went to 
the public schools there. My son went to the same schools that I went 
to and in some cases had the same teachers. And we also had the same 
doctors.
  I have to say, going back to those days, we had a great family 
physician. Today, he would be called a primary care physician. And yet 
we are seeing a shortage of primary care physicians across this Nation. 
We are also going to see a shortage of nurses across this Nation. Those 
are two components that we have to make sure that we have in the health 
care bill.
  But just in my district alone, it's going to improve coverage for 
444,000 residents that already have health care. How can that be? Well, 
they are certainly going to have preexisting conditions taken away, so 
that when they go to the doctor and they find out they have a 
preexisting condition and they find out some of these preexisting 
conditions, which--I tell you, it's outrageous. Do you know if you're a 
woman of childbearing years, getting pregnant is a preexisting 
condition? A preexisting condition.

                              {time}  1915

  I have young people on my staff that have preexisting conditions. 
What are they? Well, apparently one went to a doctor and was being 
treated for asthma; he has a preexisting condition. My grandchildren 
since they were very, very young have had bronchitis. A lot of kids get 
bronchitis. Ear infections.

[[Page H1635]]

Lots of kids get ear infections. Preexisting conditions. These are 
things that we want to make sure the insurance companies--you know, we 
are not the bad guys here, and I think that needs to be understood. We 
are not the bad guys here. It is what we have let the insurance 
companies do over the years that is, unfortunately, a disgrace.
  We are going to give tax credits and other assistance to 82,000 
families in my district and 23,000 small businesses to help them afford 
coverage.
  Now, it is important that you hear this about small businesses; 
because a small business, if they have two or three men in the company 
and then a woman that they want to hire to fill a position, and they 
happen to offer health care insurance, once that woman is hired their 
rates are going to go up higher. Their rates are going up higher. Why? 
Because there is discrimination against women on getting their health 
care, and that is wrong. That is something that we are going to change.
  Medicare. You know, I hear from my seniors all the time, especially 
for the seniors that are single, widowed, don't have much except 
Medicare and Social Security, and we are going to take care of 102,000 
of them. Mr. Speaker, this bill is going to help a lot of Americans.

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