[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 85 (Tuesday, June 8, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H4218]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HEALTH CARE REFORM'S LOST OPPORTUNITY

  (Mr. BURGESS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BURGESS. Madam Speaker, just within the past hour, Governor Mitch 
Daniels came and addressed the Congressional Health Care Caucus. He 
gave us some particular insights as to what's been happening in his 
State of Indiana with regards to health care costs.
  But, in particular, he expressed how distressed he was over the 
health care bill that this Congress passed in March. He described it as 
a ``lost opportunity of historic proportions that perpetuates and 
extends the problems of the existing system.'' The plan is 
administratively complex, and States, in fact, have no hope of 
complying. In fact, the cost to States, the significant financial 
burden proposed to the States are truly going to be obstacles.
  It's odd. You know, every time consumer-directed health care posts a 
win, we find a way not to recognize the success, but Governor Daniels 
has. He described us as heading at warp speed down a dead-end road with 
a debt burden that threatens the actual vitality of our Republic.
  There is a better way. The simple truth is that something magic 
happens when people spend their own money. Governor Daniels, employing 
a system of consumer-directed health care in his State of Indiana, has 
held health care costs down by 11 percent in the past year. I wish 
Medicare and Medicaid could say the same.

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