[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Page 4254]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, when I was a little boy growing up, we used 
to have chickens, and every morning the roosters we had would make the 
most noise, unbelievable noise they would make. Maybe those roosters 
thought that when they crowed, the Sun would come up, but it had 
nothing to do with that. I have been places where roosters do not crow 
and the Sun still comes up.
  My friend from Tennessee is using the rooster analogy and has about 
as much factual foundation as the analogy I just gave about the Sun 
coming up when the rooster crows.
  I was at a breakfast this morning. One of my friends, a former chief 
of staff to one of the Senators here, said to me: Passing the health 
care bill was a miracle in the lives of him and his family. Those are 
his words, not mine. They have a child who developed diabetes. They 
could not find insurance for that child. Because of the health care 
bill, that child is fully insured now. That is what the health care 
bill is about.
  For my friend to complain about the health insurance costs going up, 
a little bit of facts would make a lot of difference in that argument.
  The health care bill does not go into effect until 2014. Parts of it 
do, but the main impetus of the health care bill to cover the 50 
million people who have no health insurance does not kick in until 
2014. The insurance costs have gone up because insurance companies 
raised the premiums, as they always do. One of the reasons we did the 
health care bill is to rein in the health care companies around the 
country that are really bankrupting our country.
  Let's talk about what is in effect with the health care bill and what 
will be in effect. I did not come here to debate the health care bill, 
but when something is so without foundation and fact, I have to 
respond.
  People, such as my friend Bob, have had miracles in their lives all 
over America during the past year because of that health care bill 
having passed because a child under 18 who has a preexisting illness 
cannot be denied insurance. Not only does it apply to children, every 
State in the Union has now set up programs for people who have long-
term disabilities. Now they cannot be denied insurance. Not everybody 
gets that. You have to be uninsured for 6 months and other certain 
requirements, and it is not as good as for children under age 18, but 
it is pretty good.
  I will also say this: Hundreds of thousands of students in college 
today have health insurance because their parents have health 
insurance. That is what we did in the law. We raised the bar on that so 
children can stay under their parents' health insurance for longer 
periods of time.
  I am going to do an event next week in Nevada where we are going to 
have a number of businesses come together. People who employ fewer than 
10 people whose average salary is less than $25,000 can have health 
insurance for the employees, and they get a 35-percent deduction in 
their premiums. That is because of the health care bill we passed. Mr. 
President, last year the IRS sent notices to 4.4 million small 
businesses in America to let them know that they may qualify for 
reduced premiums.
  The health care bill is a very important bill. It is a milestone in 
the history of this country. We are setting up the exchanges now so 
everyone can have the same insurance I have. That is what it is all 
about. Millions of Federal employees have not perfect insurance but 
good insurance, as I have. My insurance is the same that an FBI agent 
has. Our goal is to make sure everyone in America has an opportunity to 
have insurance similar to ours.
  The Presiding Officer may have a different health care plan than I 
have because every year--we are part of an exchange that we are going 
to set up for the 50 million people who have no health insurance. Every 
year, we get quotes from insurance companies, and we can buy different 
insurance. We can buy a Cadillac policy or maybe a Ford policy. We have 
a range of insurance we can buy. That is what we are trying and we have 
allowed America to have. Those exchanges are being set up in Nevada and 
other places around the country.
  For people to talk about ObamaCare and let's get rid of it, get rid 
of it for what? Do we want my friend to go back to where he cannot get 
insurance for his child from these insurance companies whose interest 
is one thing--money, how much money they make? We have had to rein in 
those costs.
  We keep talking about the cost of the health care bill. The 
Congressional Budget Office said it will reduce the debt of this 
country by $1.3 trillion. That is not some number I made up; it is the 
nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
  I am convinced my friend was right. In his family's life, it was a 
miracle this past year because they had the ability to get insurance 
for their sick child.

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