[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 87 (Thursday, May 23, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3067-S3068]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               HEALTHCARE

  Mr. THUNE. Madam President, if you have a leak in your sink or a 
dripping pipe in the bathroom, you generally fix it yourself or call a 
plumber to fix the problem. You don't look at your otherwise 
functioning house and decide to raze it to the ground because of the 
plumbing issue. But that is basically what Democrats want to do with 
our healthcare system.
  Our healthcare system certainly isn't perfect, but our system also 
has plenty of positive things going for it: high-

[[Page S3068]]

quality care, choice, access to innovative technology and treatments, 
and most Americans are pretty satisfied with their health insurance. So 
a logical thing to do would be to fix the problems with our system and 
to preserve what is working, but that is not what Democrats want to do.
  Democrats want to destroy our current system and replace it with a 
single, one-size-fits-all, government-run program known as Medicare for 
All.
  What will that mean for Americans? Paying more and waiting longer for 
worse care.
  Medicare for All is estimated to cost $32 trillion or more over 10 
years. That is more money than the Federal Government has spent in the 
last 8 years, combined, on everything. One Medicare expert estimates 
that doubling the amount of individual and corporate income tax 
collected would not be enough to cover the cost of Medicare for All. I 
don't know about the Democrats, but I don't know too many families who 
can afford to have their tax bills double.
  Yet it is not just higher taxes. Medicare for All would eliminate 
Americans' healthcare choices.
  Don't like the one-size-fits-all government healthcare plan? Too bad. 
You will not have any other option. Private and employer-sponsored 
healthcare will be a thing of the past. Your only choice will be the 
government's plan.
  Your treatment choices will also be limited. If the government will 
not want to pay for a particular cancer treatment, for example, you 
will be out of luck. There will be no switching of an insurer to a 
better carrier. Unless you have tens or hundreds of thousands of 
dollars lying around to cover that treatment option entirely out-of-
pocket, you are going to go without.
  Then, of course, there are the long wait times that are a hallmark of 
socialized medicine. Patients in Canada and the United Kingdom, both of 
which have government-run healthcare systems, face tremendous wait 
times for care. It can take up to a year to get a medical procedure in 
Canada--one of the reasons you hear so many stories about Canadians 
coming to the United States for care. Imagine having to wait a year for 
your child to get a needed surgery. That is the kind of thing that 
parents can look forward to under Medicare for All.
  As I said earlier, there are, undoubtedly, parts of our healthcare 
system that can be improved, and the Republicans are, in fact, 
currently working on legislation to increase access to affordable 
medication and to address the issue of surprise billing, but the 
solution is not to destroy our current system and force people to pay 
more for less choice and worse care.
  The Democrats' ideology has outrun their common sense. The 
Republicans are committed to improving America's healthcare system and 
preserving Americans' healthcare choices. I hope the Democrats will 
abandon their plan for government-controlled healthcare and switch 
their focus to helping us.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. KAINE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________