[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3146]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       BROKEN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM

  (Mr. YARMUTH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Speaker, yesterday Jewish Hospital in my home town 
of Louisville, Kentucky, was forced to lay off 250 workers and 
announced plans to eliminate a total of 500 jobs. These hardworking 
people who played by the rules now, through no fault of their own, must 
figure out a new way to provide for their families.
  Here are the reasons the CEO gave for the layoffs: ``With 900,000 
Kentuckians now without health insurance, we are experiencing a perfect 
storm of declining volumes and increasing levels of uncompensated 
care.''
  To my colleagues who argue health care should be scrapped and focus 
given to jobs and the economy, I urge you to note this tragic situation 
and understand: Health care is all about jobs and the economy.
  To my Senator and constituent, Mitch McConnell, who keeps saying we 
should start over and take our time, 250 Louisvillians, your 
constituents and mine, Senator, are the ones who are now starting over.
  Louisville is anything but alone in this crisis, and the unemployed 
workers in my community are far from the only casualties of this failed 
system. I urge my colleagues to directly address our struggling economy 
and high unemployment without delay by working together to reform our 
broken health care system.

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