[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 162 (Thursday, November 14, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H7058-H7059]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     RECOGNIZING DR. TOM KIM AND THE FREE MEDICAL CLINIC OF AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Duncan) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a 
Tennessean who has helped thousands of people in need across my 
district. Dr. Tom Kim came to America after escaping North Korea at the 
age of 6. Through a strong Christian upbringing and faith in God, he 
was led to a lifelong devotion of helping others.
  Many years ago, I had lunch with Dr. Kim, and he shared with me his 
wish to open a clinic that provides free health care to the working 
poor in my district. The clinic would operate with a mission based on 
the Bible verse Matthew 25:40, ``Whatever you did for the least of 
these, you did for Me.'' From that vision came The Free Medical Clinic 
of America, which this year celebrated its 20th anniversary and 
11,000th new patient. What started as a small clinic alongside Dr. 
Kim's own practice in Knoxville has grown to facilities in four other 
counties.
  Most recently, the FBI office in Knoxville gave Dr. Kim the 
Director's Community Leadership Award. This yearly honor is given to 
citizens who go above and beyond in service to their communities.
  Mr. Speaker, Dr. Tom Kim is one of the most selfless and kindest men 
I have ever known and is a man who possesses a contagious energy to 
help others. I wanted to bring his devotion to others to the attention 
of my colleagues. I hope The Free Medical Clinic of America continues 
to be an example of humanity and Christian service for many years to 
come.
  While I came here primarily to honor a health care hero, I also want 
to make a few additional comments about health care.

[[Page H7059]]

  The more we learn about the so-called Affordable Care Act, the worse 
it gets. It should be called the ``Unaffordable Care Act'' since cost 
estimates are already double or triple the estimated cost when it was 
passed, and Federal health plans have always been lowballed on the 
front end. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, 
Medicare was supposed to cost about $12 billion after 25 years. 
Instead, CRS reports that it costs almost 10 times that much, and this 
year, it will cost six times that amount, or over $600 billion.
  Premiums are going way up for most people in preparation for the 
requirements of the new law.
  The Associated Press reported on August 8:

       One casualty of the new health care law may be paid 
     coverage for families of people who work for small 
     businesses.

  Employers are either not hiring as many workers as they ordinarily 
would, with many trying to stay under 50 employees so as not to be hit 
by the new law, or are switching people to part-time work. The State of 
Virginia notified 10,000 part-time workers they would not be allowed to 
go over 30 hours a week, and some have said the new norm all over the 
country is two 20-hour-a-week jobs.
  One leading supporter of the act was famously quoted as saying that 
we would have to pass the law before we could find out what was in it. 
Now we are finding out all of the promises about keeping your plan if 
you liked it, keeping your doctor if you liked him, and that premiums 
would go down by as much as $2,500 a year were all false, exaggerated, 
or at least incorrect. Millions have lost or will lose their coverage. 
Millions more are facing huge increases in their premiums.
  In our offices, we have helped many people with Medicare and Medicaid 
problems, and no one wants to see anyone denied medical care. However, 
before we start another program that we can't afford, we need to do 
more to eliminate the tremendous waste, fraud, and abuse that exists in 
Medicare and Medicaid today.
  More significantly, some people and companies have become rich off of 
these two programs. The administrators of Medicare and Medicaid need to 
crack down on those who are turning Medicare and Medicaid into monetary 
bonanzas. One place to start is in the huge discrepancies in charges by 
hospitals.
  A May 8 New York Times article reported that one hospital in Dallas 
billed Medicare $160,832 for lower joint replacements while another 
just 5 miles away and on the same street billed the government an 
average fee of $42,632. Two hospitals in New York City varied by 321 
percent what they charged for complicated asthma treatment, one billing 
an average of a little over $34,000 while the other charged an average 
of a little over $8,000.
  Columnist Charles Lane of The Washington Post wrote that Medicare 
reimburses power wheelchair suppliers $4,000 to $5,000 for a basic 
chair that costs the supplier $700. Just yesterday, in the Oversight 
and Government Reform Committee, we had a hearing about the botched 
rollout of the Affordable Care Web site. Already, over $600 million has 
been spent on this messed up, convoluted, confusing system. It is going 
to cost billions to straighten it out and keep updating the technology. 
None of this is going for actual health care. It is just going to some 
well-connected government contractors who are getting rich at great 
expense to American taxpayers.
  What a great law this is, destroying jobs for average Americans but 
wonderful for lobbyists and government contractors. Pete Sepp of the 
National Taxpayers Union said:

       How ironic that while the Affordable Care Act is being 
     blamed for slowing job creation outside the beltway, the law 
     is offering plenty of job opportunities to firms inside the 
     beltway willing to promote it.

  How sad this is.

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