John Garamendi: “One of the fundamental problems in the American economy is the extraordinary growth in the health care sector. This…”

“One of the fundamental problems in the American economy is the extraordinary growth in the health care sector. This little red line here is the growth in the percentage of the wealth of this Nation, the GDP, that is now in health care. We heard earlier one-sixth. Well, it is 16, almost 17, percent of the total wealth of the Nation that is tied up in health care. We are growing faster in this sector than any other sector of the American economy. Our competitors around the world are down in the 10-11 percent range. President Clinton, explaining this in a speech in California that I had the pleasure of attending, indicated that this gap here between the 16-17 percent of the American economy that goes into health care versus the 10-11 percent that our competitors are spending is like giving a $80 billion a year gift to our competitors around the world. And so when the industries in the manufacturing of America go out, the car industry, other heavy industries go out to compete, they are saddled with this extraordinary additional cost because of the growth in the health care sector. The fact is the more inflation in the health care sector, the fewer people are insured.”