Pete Stark: “This bill is, at best, unnecessary, and, at worst, it is a wasteful expenditure of $5.5 billion, which will accomplish…”

“This bill is, at best, unnecessary, and, at worst, it is a wasteful expenditure of $5.5 billion, which will accomplish very little except add to the repeated Republican program of giving huge benefits to the wealthy and doing very little for the average American. This bill is designed to turn a bunch of sow's ears into silk purses. The goal of expanding the purchase of long-term care insurance sounds like a positive one, if people really believe that long-term care insurance was any good as offered by the insurance industry today. Very few people are purchasing it. It is a dud in the market. We are, in this bill, attempting to help or bail out the long-term care insurance industry. But I wonder if that is a wise expenditure of the public's money? We are having trouble finding the money to pay, say, for prescription drugs. Why are we trying to get people to purchase something they do not need? Mr. Speaker, I believe firmly that we need to do something about the long-term care issue, but we have had precious little debate as to whether private insurance is the right approach.”