[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 339]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       END FOR-PROFIT HEALTH CARE

  (Mr. KUCINICH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, everyone knows that insurance companies 
make money not providing health care. After all, they are in the 
insurance business; they are not charities. But with as many as 29 
million Americans suffering from preexisting conditions, insurance 
companies want Congress to repeal health care reform. The provisions 
which require covering people with preexisting conditions would 
eventually cut into insurance company profits. Repeal means Americans 
will continue to pay more for insurance but get less--that is, if they 
can afford health insurance in the first place. The very idea of health 
care reform, solely within the context of a for-profit system, has been 
more than problematic.
  Today, 50 million Americans have no health insurance. What are we 
going to do for them? Rather than waste time debating how much reform 
insurance companies will permit, if any, it is time to change the 
debate. It is time to end the for-profit health care model. It is a 
time for not-for-profit-health care, single payer, universal Medicare 
for all, with an emphasis on wellness and personal responsibility. More 
about that tomorrow.

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