Barbara Boxer: “Of course, we believe everyone born should deserve the protections of this bill. The Senator, in his amendment, mentions…”

“Of course, we believe everyone born should deserve the protections of this bill. The Senator, in his amendment, mentions infants who are born and that they deserve the protections of this bill. Of course they deserve the protections of this bill. Who could be more vulnerable than a newborn baby? So, of course, we agree with that. But we go further. We believe everyone deserves the protection of this bill: babies, infants, children, families, all the way up until you are fighting for your life because you may have a dreaded disease; you may be elderly. Everyone deserves the HMOs to act in the right way and to put your vital signs ahead of their dollar signs. That is key. Maybe in the spirit of our Chaplain who called for unity this morning we start off this morning together, saying everyone who is born deserves the protections of this bill. We all know that, regardless of what age, we have heard stories of patients who are really disregarded in the name of the bottom line.”