[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 86 (Wednesday, May 22, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3019-S3020]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Healthcare
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I come to the floor again today to
discuss Washington Democrats' one-size-fits-all healthcare scheme.
Every American needs to know about this very radical plan.
Democrats essentially want Washington, DC, to take over all of
healthcare in this country and to abolish private health insurance that
180 million Americans get through their jobs. Incredibly, this proposal
offered by Senator Bernie Sanders has the backing of many leading
Democrats running for President and 109 Democratic Members of the House
of Representatives.
So I want to continue the debate today by focusing on the terrible
impact this radical scheme will have on all of the fine men and women
who provide healthcare to people across the country. Of course, the
impact on them will impact the patients for whom they provide care and
services.
I am talking about the Nation's dedicated medical professionals,
especially
[[Page S3020]]
those who serve in our community hospitals. I actually know many of
these healthcare providers because I am one of them. For many years I
practiced orthopedic surgery in Casper, WY. I was a medical doctor, a
physician, and chief of staff at the Wyoming Medical Center.
When practicing medicine in Casper, WY--or anywhere in the Presiding
Officer's home State of Nebraska--you really treat patients from all
over the State. That is because many people in Wyoming live in small
towns. I am talking about patients in towns like my wife's hometown of
Thermopolis, WY. My wife's parents are there. When they need specialty
care, they go to Casper. For those who haven't traveled in Wyoming, it
is about a 2-hour drive one way when the weather is good.
My point is, when you work in the Casper hospital, you are actually
covering a large area in our State, and that is often the case in many
States. So when I hear that Washington Democrats want to have a one-
size-fits-all healthcare plan, I wonder if they have given any thought
to people in the Nation's heartland, to people out west. Are they
considering people in rural communities at all?
I will state that I think about the people of Wyoming every day. I am
there every week. The staff at small hospitals who serve rural
communities like Thermopolis, Rawlins, Lusk, Kemmerer, and at the
Lovell hospital, where I attended a health fair this past Saturday,
talking to all of the folks there--their needs are things I am not
convinced Washington Democrats have any knowledge of or care for at
all. The people at these hospitals work hard just to keep the doors
open so that they can continue to care for patients right there.
So alarm bells go off when I see headlines like the one from the
Washington Post that said:
``Who's going to take care of these people?'' As
emergencies rise across rural America, a hospital fights for
its life.
That is the headline in the Washington Post, referring to a community
hospital in Osage County, OK. The hospital has a sign out front that
reads: ``A small community is only as healthy as its hospital.'' That
is the truth.
Hospitals across rural America are struggling. Many are, in fact,
fighting for their lives. Still, Democrats are offering a plan that
will destroy private health insurance in America, which is the
lifeblood of our Nation's healthcare system; 180 million Americans get
their insurance this way.
Democrats want to drastically reduce provider payments which, of
course, would drive many doctors from practice and shutter many small
hospitals. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator
has said a one-size-fits-all system ``would decimate physician
networks, creating a permanent physician shortage.''
So how can rural hospitals survive with no financial cushion if
Democrats' one-size-fits-all healthcare plan passes? Just ask the New
York Times, of all people. Last month, the Times ran with this
headline: ``Hospitals Stand to Lose Billions Under `Medicare for All.'
'' Hospitals stand to lose billions.
The Times cites a study from George Mason University that found
Medicare provider reimbursement rates are more than 40 percent lower
than private insurance rates--40 percent lower. At these payment rates,
the Times says, ``[s]ome hospitals, especially struggling rural
centers,'' like those in the Presiding Officer's home State and mine
``would close virtually overnight.''
There would be an overnight closure of hospitals under Bernie
Sanders' and the Democrats' one-size-fits-all scheme for medicine in
America.
I am sure a lot of people listening out there are thinking, maybe it
is all a mistake; maybe Democrats don't really mean to threaten
hospitals. Well, the fact is, Democrats have long argued that hospitals
need to close. That is what they have said.
Look at what Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, who is an architect of ObamaCare
and a professor in Philadelphia, said on the subject. He actually wrote
a book outlining all of this. It is titled, ``Reinventing American
Health Care.''
He predicted that 1,000 U.S. hospitals would close by 2020. Well, we
are approaching that year. We haven't closed 1,000 in this country, but
over 80 have closed, and those are rural hospitals.
Last year he published an op-ed in the New York Times--the same Dr.
Emanuel--ominously titled, ``Are Hospitals Becoming Obsolete?'' He
writes:
Hospitals are disappearing. While they will never
completely go away, they will continue to shrink in number
and importance. This is inevitable and good.
Well, not in rural America--``good,'' he says, that thousands of
hospitals and patients who rely on them are forced to close their doors
for good. I disagree fundamentally with this principle and what he is
saying.
Of course, all people who practice medicine in small towns want to
keep the doors open because they know the impact on the lives of the
people who live in those communities. Just last week I had a chance to
visit with Dr. Mike Tracy, a family physician in Powell, WY. He is past
president of the Wyoming Medical Society. He is passionate about caring
for his patients, and guess what. He doesn't participate in Medicare at
all. Instead, he provides his services privately by charging his
patients a set, transparent monthly fee. He does what he does to keep
his practice open. His focus is on his patients, not on Washington
paperwork, and his patients are very happy. His practice is successful.
The patients are happy with the time he is able to sit and be with them
and look at them and focus on them, instead of the mandates of a
Washington computer screen.
So you see, there are doctors like Mike all across the country who
don't want a one-size-fits-all healthcare system. Many doctors and many
small community hospitals cannot afford it, and they will not survive
it. Certainly, many rural communities can't survive it.
As the Presiding Officer knows better than most, as he has traveled
his State and as I have traveled mine, if a small community loses a
hospital, it is harder to attract doctors, nurses, teachers,
businesses--all of the things that are vital for a community to have.
So the threat is very real in terms of what the Democrats and what
Bernie Sanders and the one-size-fits-all healthcare plan would bring to
our country.
Let me just tell people who are watching the debate right now:
Democrats' one-size-fits-all healthcare--what this will mean for you is
that you will pay more to wait longer for worse care. That is what it
means. That is what it means to you. You will pay more to wait longer
for worse care. That is what is at stake.
We all need to make our voices heard loud and clear: no to Democrats'
one-size-fits-all healthcare scheme, yes to real reforms that improve
healthcare and bring down the costs for all Americans.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Lankford). Without objection, it is so
ordered.