[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 22399]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               NATION'S HEALTH INSURANCE SYSTEM IS BROKEN

  (Mr. HEINRICH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. Speaker, it's clear that our Nation's health 
insurance system is broken and that the status quo is simply 
unsustainable.
  Over the last decade, health insurance premiums in New Mexico have 
grown 118 percent for the average family, compared to just 50 percent 
growth in wages. Again, the cost of health insurance grew more than 
twice as much as wages earned by New Mexico's working families. That 
same trend has made health care insurance unaffordable for more than 
one in five adults who went uninsured last year.
  Mr. Speaker, we must hold insurance companies accountable for these 
skyrocketing costs. If we are successful in health insurance reform, we 
will lower the cost of care for our families. Seniors will actually be 
able to afford their medications all year long, small businesses will 
save money, and it will end this impediment to this Nation's 
competitiveness in the 21st century economy. We simply cannot afford to 
let this historic opportunity slip away.

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