[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 11735]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                DEMOCRAT NATIONAL HEALTH PLAN WON'T WORK

  (Mr. FLEMING asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. FLEMING. Madam Speaker, as a physician, I am the first to say we 
need affordable health care access for all.
  A new national health plan has been created by my colleagues on the 
other side of the aisle. They claim this plan will compete alongside 
private insurance to ensure that patients are getting the best deal.
  This sounds great on the surface. However, this idea makes as much 
sense as Microsoft setting the rules for all technology companies, then 
competing with them.
  Make no mistake about it: the net result of a national or public plan 
option will be the death of the private insurance in this country. This 
crazy government versus private strategy is a first step toward a 
government-run health care for everyone, creating two levels of care, 
rationing of resources, and exploding government budgets.
  Americans don't want Washington telling them what benefits they need 
and how much health care they deserve. But they do need access to 
affordable, high-quality health care that only private insurance 
competing honestly for business can provide, whether it is paid for by 
our government for the poor or paid for by the working citizens.

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