[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 17316]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Sarbanes) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to take a few minutes today 
and talk about health care, because that is really the most pressing 
issue that's facing our country right now. It's inextricably tied to 
the economic situation of millions of Americans. So even as we struggle 
to deal with this difficult economy, we can't lose sight of the 
importance of health care reform.
  Now, we have in this country a real paradox with our health care 
system, because on the one hand America has the best doctors, it has 
the best nurses, it has highly, highly trained professionals. And I 
believe, having worked with caregivers for almost 20 years representing 
providers in Maryland, I think we have the most compassionate 
caregivers you can find any place.
  We have wonderful, fine institutions in my district--the University 
of Maryland medical system, Johns Hopkins health system. These are some 
of the finest institutions in the world, year after year being 
identified at the top of their class.
  And we have amazing technology. Every year the advances in technology 
make it easier for us to address some of the most persistent health 
care problems in our country. So that's on the one side of the 
equation.
  On the other side we have the highest health care costs in the 
developed world, we have tremendous shortages of our caregivers, 
shortages of physicians, shortages of nurses and many other categories 
of those who provide care.
  We have millions of people, millions of people who have no health 
insurance, and we argue over the number. Some say it's 47 million, some 
say it's less. But we're talking about tens of millions of people who 
don't have health insurance coverage in this country. Means we have got 
a problem.
  There are millions more who are underinsured. What does that mean? 
That means that they have health coverage, but they are one serious 
health crisis away from pitching over the edge in terms of their 
families and themselves.
  And then those who do have coverage, adequate coverage, are paying 
premiums that go up by 15, 20, 25 percent a year. So we are all in it 
together. We all understand at some level that the current system is 
broken. This is our chance, this is our time. This is the moment to fix 
it. The American people have been clamoring for this for decades.
  So we have to take up the charge. We are not going to borrow 
anybody's model. We are not going to import a model from England or 
Canada or France. We are going to design our own brand of American 
health care, and we are going to fix this system. We can do that.
  There are two parts of the discussion. There is a coverage 
discussion. How do we get to where everybody has decent access to care? 
I think we ought to pursue this public plan option, because it will 
keep costs down. It will compete with the private health insurance 
plans who had kind of a stranglehold on the system, and Americans 
understand this.
  They have moved past this in the discussion. They know we need the 
public option, because it will create a more level playing field. And, 
in the words of the President, it will keep the insurance companies 
honest.
  But on the other side of the equation, in addition to the coverage 
issue, is the delivery of care. And we have got to look at investing in 
our workforce, and I am glad to say I have introduced legislation that 
attempts to do that, the health care Workforce Investment Act of 2009, 
which would create a national workforce advisory board to do just this, 
look at this question of filling in the workforce.
  We have got to focus more on primary and preventive care so we can 
keep people healthy on the front end instead of just looking after them 
after they get sick on the back end. We need to change our system and 
move in that direction.
  I like the idea of play space health care. What is that? Instead of 
expecting people to come to the health system let's figure out how we 
can take the health care system to people where they are already 
gathered. Let's go to our schools, where 98 percent of the people 
between the ages of 5 and 16 can be found 5 days a week, and let's 
intervene there.
  Let's go to senior centers and provide care to our seniors where they 
are already gathering. And let's go to workplaces and incentivize with 
tax breaks and tax incentives large employers to put clinics in place 
to serve working adults right there where they are in the workplace.
  These are all things we can do to improve the delivery system.
  So let me just close with this: As this health care reform leaves the 
station, there are three things that need to be on that train so that 
it's a train to somewhere, not a train to nowhere.
  Those three things are universal access to coverage, and I think this 
public plan option is a wonderful way to go. Second, investment in our 
workforce, and, third, focusing on primary and preventive care. If we 
do that, we are going to fix this health care system for millions of 
Americans across this country.

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