On the recordJanuary 19, 2011
Today's health care repeal debate reminds me of tennis great John McEnroe's famous rant, ``You can't be serious.'' Everyone knows this vote is symbolic, putting off for another day the hard work of revising portions of this historic law that need attention, or adding provisions that would greatly improve the law. There is no disagreement about the need to repeal the 1099 requirement for small business, but we should also add provisions to allow the government to bargain for lower drug prices and create more competition among health care plans. To me, that's what the public option was for. Health care changes already in effect are helping people in my district. Five thousand seniors received $250 last year to help cover the doughnut hole portion of their Medicare prescription drug costs, and they will get 50 percent drug discounts this year; 49,000 people under age 26 are now covered by their parents' insurance plans; 1,100 local families who went bankrupt due to health care expenses before the law was enacted no longer fear lifetime limits on insurance coverage; people like Elleni M., who suffers from Graves' disease and has gone without health insurance since 2000, can no longer be denied coverage.
