[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 20214]
[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 New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PASCRELL. This is a golden opportunity right after we've heard 
what we've just heard. We are empathetic, but we want to dispel the 
misinformation. As to the gentleman who just spoke before me, I don't 
know what plan he is referring to. So this is what has been propagated 
from the other side about the health care system envisioned in 
America's Affordable Health Choices Act. I'm going to address that 
tonight.
  I've heard many of my colleagues across the aisle claim that the 
Democrats' health care proposal will result in rationing and in the 
loss of choice. Tonight, let me address that, because, if it did, I 
would not support it nor would my fellow Democrats. I've heard anecdote 
after anecdote from the other side about a man here or about a woman 
there who had to wait for care in Canada or in England, and I do 
empathize with their stories.
  Let's be clear. Our health care plan absolutely does not envision a 
Canadian-style system. We're Americans. We propose an American system 
with choice and competition. We are not socializing medicine, and we're 
not rationing care. This is rhetoric designed to stir fear and to slow 
down efforts to bring real reform to our system. With that said, I want 
to share with you a story, not from Canada, not from England, not from 
Mars, but from right here in the United States--from Montclair, New 
Jersey, my district.
  Jodi, one of my constituents, has been self-employed for 20 years as 
a dietitian. When she got divorced, she had to pay nearly $500 a month 
for COBRA coverage. After a year and a half of timely payments, her 
plan notified her that her insurance was canceled because the automatic 
withdrawal from her bank account was processed a day late.
  I want to be on the side of those who are going to support folks like 
this. I do not want to be on the side of those who will perpetuate the 
support of insurance companies, and that's what we're talking about 
here. Over the next several months, that's what we will continue to 
talk about.
  There was no appeal available, and Jodi was not notified until 6 
weeks after she lost coverage, so it was too late for her to be 
eligible for HIPAA, protections related to preexisting conditions. When 
she finally found insurance on the individual market, all of her 
preexisting conditions were excluded for a year.
  Read the bill. When she needed blood work because she was having 
unexplainable weight gain, the insurance company denied coverage for 
her tests because of a preexisting thyroid condition even though she 
had never experienced these symptoms before.
  Read our bill. When she had pain in her foot, the insurance company 
denied coverage for a doctor visit because she had been to a 
dermatologist 9 months prior for a wart.
  What is different about this story from the stories brought to us 
from the other side of the aisle is that we have the numbers that prove 
that Jodi was not alone when she was denied the care that she needed.
  If you want to talk about rationing, then let's talk about these 
numbers: 53 percent of Americans cut back on their health care in the 
last year because of costs. Between January of 2000 and this year, 5 
million families filed for bankruptcy because of medical bills. About 
one-third of the uninsured have a chronic disease. They are six times 
less likely to receive care for a health problem than are the insured.
  Read the bill. There are 25 million Americans who are underinsured, 
which means that at least 25 million Americans face premiums, copays 
and deductibles that they can hardly afford. For these people, people 
who have insurance, price stands between them and the care they need 
and the treatments their doctors prescribe. Another 46 million are 
uninsured with no protection whatsoever from these costs. As many as 
22,000 Americans die each year because they don't have health 
insurance. Read the bill.
  That's rationing my friends. That's rationing.
  As costs continue to rise, these numbers will grow and grow, so 
please don't preach to us about rationing. Plans offered by the other 
side fail to reduce the number of uninsured; they fail to rein in 
health care costs; and they erode the employer-provided coverage, the 
one mode of insurance that has kept us from slipping over the 
precipice.
  Our bill, America's Affordable Health Choices Act, will expand access 
to health care; it will rein in health care costs; and it will end 
needless rationing in this country.

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