[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 20876]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, as we come to the end of another Congress, 
as the country stands ready to pick a new President for the next 4 
years, it is appropriate to ask is America better off today than it was 
4 years ago.
  In terms of health care, the answer is clearly no. Since 2001, as the 
economy has weakened, the cost of insurance has risen. These two 
factors have increased the number of uninsured Americans. There are now 
over 5 million more Americans without insurance than at the beginning 
of the Bush administration. That is right, 5.2 million more.
  In 2004, insurance premiums went up 11 percent, and at the same time 
inflation and, more importantly, workers' wages have gone up by less 
than 3 percent. This unaffordable increase comes on top of an increase 
of almost 14 percent in 2003, 13 percent in 2002, almost 11 percent in 
2001. Each of these increases far outstrips pay raises. So in that 
time, a family's share of health insurance premiums have gone up 
$1,000, a whopping 57 percent.
  With such a weak economy and without sufficient increases in wages, 
these increases are devastating to a working family; but this 
administration, this congressional leadership have not done a thing to 
help. In fact, they have made it harder to help people struggling with 
the high cost of insurance.
  Just last week, the administration took over $1 billion in unused 
children's health insurance funds away from the States.

                              {time}  2045

  This money could have easily been redistributed to shore up State 
programs and to expand coverage. And despite the continuing State 
budget crises, the administration has refused to grant more fiscal 
relief.
  These actions and the refusal of the administration to put more 
funding into Medicaid have put unbelievable pressure on States to cut 
back their insurance programs. In 2004, 19 States cut benefits. Twenty 
have increased copayments. In 2003, 18 States cut benefits and 17 
increased copayments. And as of right now, nine more States plan to 
take these steps in the coming year. This is all happening because of 
the administration's refusal to help.
  In addition, under the President's watch, prescription drug prices 
have skyrocketed. The administration did nothing to reduce these prices 
or to help people pay for them. Last year, the Republican leadership 
and this President shoved a Medicare bill through the House in the dead 
of night. That bill, written by the prescription drug and private 
insurance companies, offered a sham prescription drug benefit.
  The President and congressional leadership blocked Medicare from 
negotiating lower prices for Medicare beneficiaries in the bill, and 
the President has fought efforts to allow seniors to import cheaper 
prescription medications, despite bipartisan support. Their answer was 
the so-called prescription drug discount card, which has proved to be a 
failure.
  Reports done by the House Committee on Government Reform, and I did 
them in my district, have exposed that the prices with these cards can 
be higher than Canadian drug prices, and they are much higher than the 
prices seniors could get if Medicare would negotiate on behalf of 
America's 40 million seniors.
  But this is not even the worst of it. The President's bill has set 
the stage to privatize Medicare. It shovels an additional $46 billion 
to managed care companies in order to push seniors into HMOs. And the 
President has asked seniors to pay for that by increasing their own 
premiums by 17 percent. The media reports that the administration is 
hiding bigger premium increases down the road.
  It seems pretty clear to me that America is not better off than it 
was 4 years ago. Democrats want to lower the cost of health insurance 
for small businesses through a new tax credit. We want to extend health 
insurance coverage to 7\1/2\ million parents through Medicaid and CHIP, 
and we want to help older Americans who cannot afford to purchase 
health insurance so they can buy into Medicare.
  Democrats have a New Partnership For America's Future, one that 
ensures our security and lays the foundation for a strong and 
prosperous economy, and that is what we are fighting for.

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