On the recordMarch 11, 2010
As I understand it, we first talked about a Republican idea of saying let everyone buy health insurance tax free. Republican idea. That would take care of the little guy who's paying an outrageous after-tax price for his health care. One Republican solution not in this bill. We've talked about high-risk pools so that people who have a preexisting condition--and they may have diabetes or something very expensive to treat--they can get help from those who are healthy in the State; they actually get a subsidy. Second Republican idea not in this bill. The President says it's in, but it's in as a temporary measure and taken right back out. Now you're talking about a third Republican idea, which is that we allow people in the individual market to buy health insurance across State lines, increase their competition. It sounds to me like there are ideas coming from our side of the aisle.…
