[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 60 (Tuesday, April 27, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H2888-H2889]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PASSAGE OF PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
(Mr. CONAWAY asked and was given permission to address the House for
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Speaker, here in Washington, in these hallowed
Halls, we have the power to do many things. At times, it might appear
as if there is no riddle so complex that the careful arrangement of
words on a paper cannot overcome it. Indeed, the very rationale behind
the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act was to
[[Page H2889]]
solve forever the Gordian knot of equality in our citizens' access to
health care. Yet, for all its words, commands, prescriptions, and
boards in the bill, Richard Foster, the chief actuary of CMS, has laid
bare an essential truth about these mandates. Mr. Speaker, they have
consequences. On page 10 of his recent report, Mr. Foster states
unequivocally that this bill will make hospitals, long-term care
facilities, and other part A providers unprofitable.
It's clear to me, Mr. Speaker, that while we in Washington can pass
words on paper that guarantee all Americans health care, that the
doctors and hospitals throughout America may not be around long enough
to provide them care. More jobs, Mr. Speaker, lost to wrong-headed
policies being forced upon the American people by this majority.
____________________