Tom Price

In fact, we save Medicare for future generations.

So, in fact, what has already been adopted ends Medicare as we know it.

Medicare as we know it doesn't exist under the Democrat's plan already, is that correct?

Isn't it possible that an appropriately regulated and structured private contracting program would in fact increase access for Medicare for seniors in this country, isn't that possible?

I would just caution this panel and this committee and this Congress that the SGR system was this Congress' solution to how to pay physicians a few short years ago, and it has run amok, clearly.

I am astounded at the lack of responsiveness to my question about the Independent Payment Advisory Board.

I just want to say that all of us agree that the status quo is unacceptable.

I would suggest to you that the quality of care is harmed and threatened by this law because it removes the ability of patients and families and doctors to make medical decisions.

Premiums are increasing for people because of this law specifically.

I appreciate that, because we are going to be able to demonstrate for you how this bill--this bill--provides for rationing of care in this Nation.

The issue here isn't between Democrats and Republicans, isn't whether or not Americans have access to the highest quality of care.

The fact of the matter is, there are millions of Americans who have health care coverage, have had health care coverage, and that coverage is going away because of this law.

If we want every child to be taught by a highly-effective teacher, let us create the mechanisms to do so through the Teacher Incentive Fund.

Teacher quality has proven to be one of the most important school-related factors influencing student achievement.

I think it is important to appreciate that Federal regulation of insurance is different than instituting a systemic risk regulator for insurance.

Seventy percent of the jobs in this nation are created by small business out there, and every time that we put a cost on business, then we actually decrease the number of jobs able to be created.

The most troubling aspect of the Health Families Act is that it ultimately threatens to harm workers by way of lower wages and fewer opportunities.

It is also true, however, that the Healthy Families Act would impose a new federal mandate of unprecedented scope on very small business establishments.

At a time when we are facing massive record budget deficits and the president has us on a path to raising the national debt to $23.1 trillion by 2019, this is a road that America can simply not afford.

Employers around this nation see this type of legislation right now, and many have frozen any hiring because they don't know how severe government dictates will be.

We operate by rules in this House of Representatives. At least we used to. I don't know whether we still do.

I would suggest that adding such reforms is too important to be tucked away into a massive overhaul and should be vetted and debated separately on its merits.

But the proposal appears to put Washington in the business of paying for sick days to the tune of about one and a half BILLION dollars over the next four years.

I have been one of those government bureaucrats, so I know firsthand what it means to take the legislative language and turn it into the very real practical rules that employers and employees have to live with every day in their workplaces.

If you take out violent deaths and MVAs, our life expectancy in this nation exceeds all of our peers.