Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and, of course, my good friend, Representative Vern Buchanan, an excellent member of the Ways and Means Committee for their work on this bill. With his work, I rise today to support this legislation, the Chronic Disease Flexible Coverage Act. This is bipartisan, commonsense legislation to allow predeductible health coverage for chronic disease patients with a high deductible health plan, otherwise known as HDHP. This commonsense legislation, as you heard from the chairman, already passed Congress last session under the leadership of my friends and former colleagues, Brad Wenstrup and Earl Blumenauer. It is common sense mainly because, as you heard from the chairman, chronic disease is so common. Mr. Speaker, 6 in 10 adult Americans have a chronic disease, which is the leading cause of disabilities in the United States of America. Mr. Speaker, 90 percent of our annual health spending goes to chronic disease and mental health management. While these chronic diseases are common, they are also manageable if we just do everything that we can to improve access to care. In my 19th Congressional District on the central coast of California, the number one thing I hear about from constituents is access to healthcare or, I should say, the lack of access to healthcare.…”