Pete Stark: “This is a historic day. We have worked to enact health reform in America for decades. President Johnson took a major…”

“This is a historic day. We have worked to enact health reform in America for decades. President Johnson took a major step when he signed Medicare into law in 1965 and guaranteed every American age sixty-five and over quality, affordable health care. Forty-five years later, we are about to extend that guarantee to all Americans. It isn't the bill I would have written. However when it comes to legislating health insurance reform in America, we will not get everything each of us want. This bill is a compromise that bridges the differences among us. I am proud to support this legislation and urge my colleagues to do the same. This bill builds a solid foundation. It will: Extend coverage to 95 percent of all Americans. Assure affordability of health insurance by providing tax credits and cost-sharing assistance to families up to 400 percent of poverty. Halt abuses of the health insurance industry--forcing them to compete on quality, not just their ability to avoid covering needed health services. Guarantee a standard benefit package for all Americans with an annual cap on out-of-pocket spending. No family should go bankrupt because of medical expenses. Create a new marketplace, called an Exchange, where people will be able to comparison shop among health insurance plans. Require that insurance plans spend at least a certain percentage of their premium dollars on benefits and end discrimination by health status, gender, occupation.”