[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 16001-16002]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   CREATIVE FEDERALISM IN HEALTH CARE

  (Mr. PRICE of Georgia asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, everyone understands that we have 
a real challenge in health care with over 45 million Americans without 
adequate insurance coverage. And Washington is

[[Page 16002]]

in a logjam with a national solution elusive.
  Yesterday, we took a great step in meeting this challenge with the 
introduction by a bipartisan group of a significant measure to help 
cover the uninsured. As a physician, I understand that one-size-fits-
all does not work in health care.
  Our bipartisan working group respects greatly the principle of 
federalism. And our proposal will empower States to develop methods 
that best suit their unique populations.
  H.R. 5864, the Health Partnership Through Creative Federalism Act 
holds real promise to increase the number of Americans with health 
insurance coverage. By empowering States to develop methods that best 
suit their unique needs, we are putting patients first which should be 
the foundation of any reform. This bold initiative takes this inherent 
knowledge into account and gives States the flexibility to find 
solutions to cover the uninsured.
  I encourage my colleagues on both sides to sign on as a cosponsor and 
support this innovative solution.

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