[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 25691]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Moran) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MORAN of Kansas. Madam Speaker, I came to Congress with a 
purpose, a purpose of working to preserve the way of life that we live 
in Kansas. I was born and raised in Kansas, and my home and family are 
still in Kansas. I never moved to Washington, D.C. because I love the 
sense of community and belonging that Kansas communities offer. Access 
to quality, affordable health care is one of those things that 
determine whether our communities survive and whether we have a future. 
This is why the current health care reform debate is so important to 
me, and I am extremely concerned about the direction that we are going.
  During his campaign, President Obama stressed transparency and 
accountability in the health care debate. He said, I'm going to have 
all the negotiations around a big table and that the negotiations will 
be televised on C-SPAN so that people could see who is making the 
arguments on behalf of their constituents and who is making the 
arguments on behalf of drug companies or insurance companies.
  But now the transparency that the President promised us is nowhere to 
be found, as several Democrat senators and White House staff hole 
themselves away to draft the health care reform bill behind closed 
doors. I understand the Democrats' desire to merge the two Senate 
committee bills, but this process concerns me because in this closed 
office, the future of health care for Kansans is being decided.
  Does this small group understand the problems that cutting Medicare 
reimbursement rates will pose for Kansas hospitals, doctors, nurses and 
other health care providers? Kansas hospitals operate on razor-thin 
margins because they are already dramatically underpaid by Medicare. If 
these rates are further reduced, as the current reform bills propose, 
Kansas hospitals may be forced to close and access to health care for 
Kansans will be reduced.
  Is this small group considering commonsense ideas that have been 
proposed by Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle that would 
make quality coverage more affordable and more accessible for more 
Americans? Some of those ideas that we have talked about include 
placing as much emphasis on wellness as we do on illness by giving 
employers and insurers flexibility to reward individuals who improve 
their health and manage their disease; encouraging medical students to 
become primary care physicians and nurses and incentivizing them to 
care for patients in underserved communities; permitting the sale of 
insurance across State lines, establishing high risk pools and 
reinsurance pools to address preexisting conditions and providing 
incentives to low-income families to retain or purchase private health 
insurance that best meets their needs; reforming our medical liability 
system to reduce frivolous lawsuits that lead to inflated insurance 
premiums and the practice of defensive medicine; encouraging health 
care savings by offering individuals health savings accounts that 
enable families to take ownership of their health; and upgrading our 
outdated health records system through the use of new technology to 
streamline costs and reduce medical errors.
  It is my hope that these issues are being addressed as the President 
and Democrat leaders craft the health care reform bill. I have traveled 
across my State, and I have heard many Kansans who have worries. They 
are concerned about their health care and about the future of their 
State and country. Kansans and all Americans deserve to know what their 
Representatives are voting on, and they deserve the assurance their 
business will be conducted in a deliberate and open way.
  The President has expressed a desire to explore a wide range of 
options for health care reform. Kansans want commonsense reforms that 
enhance our current system and reduce health care costs. What we do not 
want is the trillions in new deficit spending, reduced choices for 
patients and doctors, and increased power in Washington D.C.
  Health care reform must address the underlying reasons that health 
care costs keep increasing. We lower costs through reforms that 
eliminate the unnecessary overspending in our current system, not by 
shifting the costs of health care to taxpayers and mortgaging our 
children's future with exploding budget deficits.

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