[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 18]
[House]
[Page 24364]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     FIX GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTH CARE BEFORE ENACTING ANY NEW REFORMS

  (Mr. TIM MURPHY of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. TIM MURPHY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, as we discuss the issue 
of health care, one thing that's brought up often is, Why not let the 
government run health care? After all, we already have Medicaid, 
Medicaid, TRICARE and the VA.
  Here is a true story: a gentleman in his eighties needs a motorized 
wheelchair, so he gets a medical exam. A few dozen pages of paperwork 
are filled out, and 3 or 4 months go by, waiting for the wheelchair to 
arrive. Unfortunately, during that time, the medical exam expired after 
60 days and has to be repeated. Again, more billing, a couple dozen 
pages of that, and he gets his $25,000 wheelchair. Unfortunately, by 
that time, he is in hospice care and can barely use it. And here is the 
other tragedy: it goes into storage. It can't be used. It cannot be 
returned, and it's a big waste of money in many ways.
  It's not atypical for issues with Medicare and Medicaid. They, quite 
frankly, will pay for this sort of expense but will not pay for the 
care it takes to prevent these sorts of problems. Before we take on 
more health care and $1 trillion more spending, shouldn't we fix those 
things we are already responsible for? I think that would save a lot of 
money, make a lot of sense, and save a lot of lives.

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