[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 26531]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         PUTTING PATIENTS FIRST

  (Mr. KAGEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. KAGEN. Mr. Speaker, this House of Representatives is the people's 
voice, and we are about to deliver exactly what they have been asking 
for: reforms in our health care system, reforms that were asked of us 
by our people back home in our districts. Ideas, great ideas come from 
our people, including closing the doughnut hole in Medicare part D, 
reforming medical malpractice to make sure it is affordable for every 
practitioner and their patients, and to negotiate finally for deeper 
discounts from prescription drug companies.
  We are also going to eliminate the antitrust exemption that the Wall 
Street-run health insurance corporations have been benefiting from for 
several decades. We are also going to begin to look at purchasing 
health care policies across State lines.
  This is what the people want: They want private doctors and private 
hospitals. They want to be in charge of their health care again.
  We are going to put patients first in this House of Representatives.

                          ____________________