[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 14358]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           HEALTH CARE REFORM

  (Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland. Mr. Speaker, our current health care system 
is unsustainable. Working people go every day without care or struggle 
to pay increasingly higher premiums and deductibles. In my home State 
of Maryland, 76.7 percent of the uninsured are from working families.
  Now, if a single-payer plan is not adopted by this Congress, which I 
support strongly, then we must have a robust public plan option like 
Medicare to be enacted to reduce costs for small businesses and 
individuals, provide true competition, and give patients the choice 
they deserve. A public plan option has to be available to all without 
exclusions. It must retain patient choice and implement reforms that 
promote quality care, prevention, primary care, and chronic health care 
management. And importantly, a public plan option must address health 
care disparities in underrepresented communities.
  Mr. Speaker, this Congress and President will be judged by our 
ability to construct a health care system that covers all Americans, 
lowers costs for everyone, and provides real and competitive choice for 
health care. The time for reform is now, and we can't delay.

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