[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3519]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           HEALTH CARE REFORM

  (Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, from The Cincinnati 
Enquirer to The Washington Post, the editorials today tell the 
Democrats to stop this health care reform and start again. I agree 
because I've always based my work on health care on increasing access. 
This bill fails at increasing overall access. The Senate bill expands 
Medicaid to cover families earning up to 133 percent of poverty level. 
The Medicaid rolls will explode under this proposal. But what does that 
mean? Some 40 percent of family practice physicians currently do not 
accept Medicaid patients. This is expected to increase to 60 percent. 
Some 60 percent of specialists currently do not accept Medicaid 
patients. This is expected to skyrocket to 80 percent.
  This bill expands Medicaid beyond its capacity to absorb patients, it 
cuts Medicare for seniors, and leaves malpractice tort reform untouched 
and skyrocketing costs in place. This bill has the potential to 
bankrupt rural hospitals that have a disproportionate share of the 
problems inherent in the bill. This adds up to less access and lower 
quality. That is not reform.

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