[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 19564]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     HEALTH CARE AND PUBLIC OPTION

  (Mr. SCHIFF asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, as a Nation, we spend almost twice as much 
per person on health care as any other country, or about 16 percent of 
our gross domestic product. And for all the money that we are spending, 
our health care system does not produce the best outcomes.
  Millions of Americans have no health care insurance and receive their 
care at the emergency room. Millions more must make the difficult 
choice of whether to pay their medical bills or pay their mortgage 
because they can't afford to do both.
  I support reforms in the health care package that will bring down 
health care costs by tying payments to outcomes rather than the 
quantity of tests being run, by ending the government's overpayment for 
prescription drugs, by empowering an independent commission to put 
health care cost reductions before the Congress for up-or-down votes, 
and by investing in prevention and primary care.
  One of the choices that should be made available in the health 
insurance exchange is a public health insurance option. I strongly 
believe that the advent of a public plan alongside private insurance 
coverage would achieve a number of beneficial goals, providing a 
greater choice to families and much-needed competition with private 
insurers. The new plan would also use its inherent advantages to 
control costs over the long term through lower administrative overhead 
and the ability to bargain for volume discounts.
  In order to make sure the public plan has the legs to compete with 
private insurers, I believe it needs to be available now, not as a 
fallback, and that we need to allow it access to an established 
provider network, like Medicare, that will ensure the plan competes on 
a level playing field.
  As a nation we spend almost twice as much per person on health care 
as any other country or about 16 percent of our gross domestic product. 
And for all the money we are spending, our health care system does not 
produce the best outcomes.
  Millions of Americans have no health care insurance and receive their 
care at the emergency room. Millions more must make the difficult 
choice of whether to pay their medical bills or pay their mortgage 
because they cannot afford to do both.
  I support reforms in the health-care package that will bring down 
health-care costs by tying payments to outcomes, rather than the 
quantity of tests being run, by ending the government's overpayment for 
prescription drugs, by empowering an independent commission to put 
health care cost reductions before the Congress for an up-or-down vote, 
and by investing in prevention and primary care.
  One of the choices that should be made available in the health 
insurance exchange is a public health insurance option.

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