[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 18]
[House]
[Page 23754]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   HEALTH CARE AND THE PUBLIC OPTION

  (Mr. YARMUTH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Speaker, last week the distinguished minority 
leader, Mr. Boehner, told the national media that he had not yet met 
the first average American who was for the public option in our health 
care reform package.
  Well, I would like to introduce him to the woman who introduced 
herself to me yesterday morning in the Louisville airport. Her name was 
Margaret. She was in her late 50s. And the job that she had had with a 
restaurant ended when the restaurant closed a couple months ago. They 
had been paying her full insurance premium of $700 a month. But now, 
because she has a preexisting condition, as do most people in her age 
category, she could not get any insurance in the private market and had 
to rely on the State insurance pool, where she now pays over $1,000 a 
month for her coverage.
  She asked me to inform not just Mr. Boehner but all my colleagues 
that she is in favor of a public option, and she is dramatically and 
enthusiastically in support of our health care reform effort.
  So for Mr. Boehner, if he wants to come to Louisville, I'd be happy 
to introduce him to Margaret. He can probably find somebody in southern 
Ohio who is in support of a public option, because there are thousands 
and thousands of people like Margaret who need our help.

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