[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[House]
[Pages 25443-25444]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           HEALTH CARE REFORM

  (Mr. SARBANES asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. Speaker, more evidence is coming in every day that 
the health insurance industry cannot help itself when it comes to 
pocketing profits at the expense of the American people and American 
businesses.
  At precisely the moment when you would think the health insurance 
industry would want to demonstrate some restraint, because it's been 
telling us for months that it can accomplish voluntarily all the things 
that we want to try to impose in terms of better regulation on their 
practices, putting competition in place in terms of a public option, at 
precisely that moment when they have an opportunity to demonstrate 
restraint, I've been going around my district and hearing from 
businesses and employers who are just now getting the notices, the 
renewal notices on what the insurance premiums are going to be starting 
in January; and they're looking at 20 percent increases, 25 percent, 30 
percent. So that sends a strong message that

[[Page 25444]]

the insurance industry voluntarily is not going to do the right thing.
  That's why we've got to get a good, strong insurance reform in place 
that puts best practices in place with respect to that industry and 
provides some competition. That's what we're working for right now.

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