Charles Norwood: “today we will make a great step forward, in my opinion, in making health care available to all Americans. The Health…”

“today we will make a great step forward, in my opinion, in making health care available to all Americans. The Health Care Coverage Availability and Affordability Act will give Americans the two things they need most: increased access to health care and decreased cost. We will give hardworking Americans increased access by addressing the issues of preexisting conditions and portability. We will decrease the cost by tax deductibility for the self-employed, authorizing small employers' purchasing pools, and allowing Americans to have medical savings accounts. We are going to accomplish this without increasing government bureaucracy or writing thousands of pages of new regulations. Mr. Speaker, we are increasing access while lowering costs. Should that not be the goal of any health care legislation? We are doing it with as little government influence as possible, or interference. I urge my colleagues to support 3103, and I would remind them that when we talk in this body about rich and wealthy, the liberal Democrats define that as anybody with a job.”