Phil Gingrey: “the total percentage of nonmandatory spending in this country that goes to health care, Federal dollars is like 45…”

“the total percentage of nonmandatory spending in this country that goes to health care, Federal dollars is like 45 percent. I remember during the most recent Presidential campaign, I do not know which one of the three debates, I think maybe the last one, the President talked about this, talked about the issue of needing to do something about medical liability insurance rates and his opponent, Senator Kerry, said the insurance premiums for physicians so they can continue to practice is a minuscule amount. President Bush was so correct when he said, yes, that is a big cost per individual physician; but in the overall picture it is not a big cost, but the cost, of course, as the gentleman from Texas pointed out, is all of the tests and procedures, the defensive medicine that is being practiced. That is why we cannot sustain that and we need to do something about it. It is not just the cost, as my co-chair talked about during his time, and I want to have further discussion about that. It is a safety issue. It is very definitely a safety issue.”