Americans Want Reform, Not a Blind Rush
June 19, 2009
‘When it comes to making sure Americans can keep the coverage they have, strengthening wellness and prevention programs, reforming our medical malpractice laws, and paying for health care reform, Republicans share common ground with the President. I just wish that Congressional Democrats did too’
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor Friday regarding the importance of getting it right on health care reform: “One thing Republicans and Democrats can all agree on is the need for serious health care reform. On Monday, President Obama spoke to the American Medical Association to discuss this issue. I applaud the President for his commitment to health care reform and I agree with him that we need to make health care more affordable and accessible for all Americans.
“While the American people want reform, they want us to fix what’s wrong with the system without taking away the freedom, choices, and quality of care they now enjoy. During his speech to the AMA, the President acknowledged these concerns and articulated some principles on health care reform that many Republicans share.
“But it seems to me that many of my friends on the other side of the aisle should have listened more closely to what the President said to the AMA.
“One thing the President said that Republicans agree with is that Americans shouldn’t be forced to give up the insurance they currently have and like, and be forced onto a government plan. The President promised the American people that, quote, ‘If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan. No one will take it away, no matter what.’ Republicans agree with the President.
“Yet Democrats in Congress are making last minute edits to a bill in the HELP Committee this week that the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says will cause 10 million people with employer sponsored insurance to lose the coverage they currently have. And that is the number of people who would lose their current insurance under just one section of the bill. This legislation is still missing significant sections that could force tens of millions of additional Americans to lose their current coverage.
“Republicans share the President’s belief that those who like their health insurance should be able to keep it. But the bill currently being considered by the HELP Committee would force Americans off of the health care plans they now enjoy.
“Another issue that the President and Republicans agree on is the need to invest more in preventive care and wellness programs, which are an important way to cut costs and improve care. President Obama mentioned the successful wellness and prevention program that Safeway created, which has dramatically cut the company’s health care costs and employees’ health care premiums.
“He said he would be open to doing more to help businesses across the country adopt and expand programs like the one created by Safeway. Yet the bill that Democrats are now pushing through the Senate would actually ban this successful program from being copied and implemented by other companies.
“Republicans also agree with the President on the need to reform our nation’s medical liability laws. Frivolous malpractice lawsuits are a major cause of our increasing health care costs. These lawsuits cause insurance premiums for doctors to skyrocket, and doctors then pass these higher costs on to patients. Doctors also often order expensive and unnecessary tests just to protect themselves against these lawsuits, and some doctors just close their practices or stop offering services as a result of all these pressures.
“And patients are the ones who lose out. According to a report by the Kentucky Institute of Medicine, Kentucky is nearly 2,300 doctors short of the national average — a shortage that could be reduced, in part, by reforming medical malpractice laws.
“President Obama has not advocated the kind of medical liability reform most Republicans would like to see, but he has at least opened the door to fixing the system. But none of the bills introduced in the Congress even acknowledge the need for malpractice reform or propose any solutions to deal with the problem.
“Finally, Republicans share the President’s concerns about how much health care reform is going to cost, and how we will pay for it. President Obama said that he set down a rule that, quote, ‘health care reform must be, and will be, deficit-neutral in the next decade.’
“But the preliminary estimates from the bill before the HELP Committee show that just one – just one - section of the bill spends $1.3 trillion dollars. And even more outrageous is the fact that the bill doesn’t even have any proposals to pay for its enormous price tag – other than to borrow it from the taxpayers. Americans want reform. But they don’t want a blind rush to spend trillions of dollars that they and their grandchildren will have to pay for through higher taxes and even more debt.
“When it comes to making sure Americans can keep the coverage they have, strengthening wellness and prevention programs, reforming our medical malpractice laws, and paying for health care reform, Republicans share common ground with the President. I just wish that Congressional Democrats did too.”
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WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor Friday regarding the importance of getting it right on health care reform: “One thing Republicans and Democrats can all agree on is the need for serious health care reform. On Monday, President Obama spoke to the American Medical Association to discuss this issue. I applaud the President for his commitment to health care reform and I agree with him that we need to make health care more affordable and accessible for all Americans.
“While the American people want reform, they want us to fix what’s wrong with the system without taking away the freedom, choices, and quality of care they now enjoy. During his speech to the AMA, the President acknowledged these concerns and articulated some principles on health care reform that many Republicans share.
“But it seems to me that many of my friends on the other side of the aisle should have listened more closely to what the President said to the AMA.
“One thing the President said that Republicans agree with is that Americans shouldn’t be forced to give up the insurance they currently have and like, and be forced onto a government plan. The President promised the American people that, quote, ‘If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan. No one will take it away, no matter what.’ Republicans agree with the President.
“Yet Democrats in Congress are making last minute edits to a bill in the HELP Committee this week that the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says will cause 10 million people with employer sponsored insurance to lose the coverage they currently have. And that is the number of people who would lose their current insurance under just one section of the bill. This legislation is still missing significant sections that could force tens of millions of additional Americans to lose their current coverage.
“Republicans share the President’s belief that those who like their health insurance should be able to keep it. But the bill currently being considered by the HELP Committee would force Americans off of the health care plans they now enjoy.
“Another issue that the President and Republicans agree on is the need to invest more in preventive care and wellness programs, which are an important way to cut costs and improve care. President Obama mentioned the successful wellness and prevention program that Safeway created, which has dramatically cut the company’s health care costs and employees’ health care premiums.
“He said he would be open to doing more to help businesses across the country adopt and expand programs like the one created by Safeway. Yet the bill that Democrats are now pushing through the Senate would actually ban this successful program from being copied and implemented by other companies.
“Republicans also agree with the President on the need to reform our nation’s medical liability laws. Frivolous malpractice lawsuits are a major cause of our increasing health care costs. These lawsuits cause insurance premiums for doctors to skyrocket, and doctors then pass these higher costs on to patients. Doctors also often order expensive and unnecessary tests just to protect themselves against these lawsuits, and some doctors just close their practices or stop offering services as a result of all these pressures.
“And patients are the ones who lose out. According to a report by the Kentucky Institute of Medicine, Kentucky is nearly 2,300 doctors short of the national average — a shortage that could be reduced, in part, by reforming medical malpractice laws.
“President Obama has not advocated the kind of medical liability reform most Republicans would like to see, but he has at least opened the door to fixing the system. But none of the bills introduced in the Congress even acknowledge the need for malpractice reform or propose any solutions to deal with the problem.
“Finally, Republicans share the President’s concerns about how much health care reform is going to cost, and how we will pay for it. President Obama said that he set down a rule that, quote, ‘health care reform must be, and will be, deficit-neutral in the next decade.’
“But the preliminary estimates from the bill before the HELP Committee show that just one – just one - section of the bill spends $1.3 trillion dollars. And even more outrageous is the fact that the bill doesn’t even have any proposals to pay for its enormous price tag – other than to borrow it from the taxpayers. Americans want reform. But they don’t want a blind rush to spend trillions of dollars that they and their grandchildren will have to pay for through higher taxes and even more debt.
“When it comes to making sure Americans can keep the coverage they have, strengthening wellness and prevention programs, reforming our medical malpractice laws, and paying for health care reform, Republicans share common ground with the President. I just wish that Congressional Democrats did too.”
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