[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11395]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE FOR ALL

  (Mr. KUCINICH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, health care in this country is a crisis of 
major proportions. Seniors are still splitting pills to make their 
medications last. People will not go to a doctor because they cannot 
afford it. Only if some are near death will they rush to the hospital. 
It is clearly time for a universal, single payer, not-for-profit health 
care system called Medicare For All, and that is exactly what H.R. 676, 
sponsored by the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) and by myself 
would achieve.
  Medicare For All will cost the same amount the Nation currently 
spends for health care overall, but funds will be reallocated to cover 
everyone, to improve care and eliminate cost for individuals. And here 
is what would be covered: all medically necessary procedures, primary 
care and prevention, inpatient care, outpatient care, emergency care, 
prescription drugs, long-term care, mental health, dental health, and 
vision care, as well as chiropractic services.
  It is time for us to realize a primary purpose of our government is 
to make sure our people are healthy. Health care is a basic right in a 
democratic society.
  I am urging support for H.R. 676.

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