[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 18]
[House]
[Pages 24737-24738]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM

  (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, do no harm. What we are really 
doing in health care reform is to ensure that we have an efficient, 
effective, and secure Medicare, not cuts. But really what we want to 
talk about is insuring all Americans.
  Our job is not yet done. We thank the Senate Finance Committee for 
moving forward, but our job is not done. It's not done because a 17-
pound, 4-month-old baby that had the Rocky Mountain Health Plan was 
denied insurance because of obesity. What more are Americans going to 
face?
  Listen to this debate. The legislation that we have here in the House 
means that health insurance reform will come and an insurance company 
can no longer decide to deny you coverage or jack up your rate because 
of a preexisting condition. It means it will be against the law for 
insurance companies to drop your coverage when you

[[Page 24738]]

get sick or water it down. It means insurance companies will no longer 
be able to place some arbitrary cap on the coverage. It means there 
will be a yearly limit on how much you can be charged on out-of-pocket 
expenses. It means relief. It means that your bouncing baby boy will 
not be denied insurance because he happens to be chubby.
  Let's get the job done, access to health insurance for all Americans.

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