Greg Ganske

let me continue then about another type of contract provision that HMOs force on providers, and that is what is called gag rules. That is where, for instance, Aetna has said, providers shall not provide or threaten to provide inferior care…

let me get this straight, reclaiming my time. So while the insurance industry is critical of the bill, they, at the same time, have an antitrust exemption. Is that right?

Reclaiming my time, let us go back to this for a minute. Let us say you have a family practitioner out in a small rural town and he knows of some examples where this HMO has not treated his patients fairly; and he says, you know, I think…

I was a reconstructive surgeon. I took care of women who had cancer operations, farmers who had put their hands into machines, children with birth defects. But when I was elected to Congress, I closed my practice, so I no longer practice…

They will go next door, and so what we are looking at is an ability, and I think this is crucial, the gentleman has it in your bill, and we have to repeat this, the gentleman has in his bill a prohibition on strikes.

we are going to discuss managed care reform tonight. It is pertinent that we do this. Back in October this House voted 275 to 151 to pass the Norwood-Dingell-Ganske Patient Protection Act. That is in conference now. Things are going very…

Yes, Mr. Speaker, I am supporting the gentleman on his bill. I wish he would have supported me on mine, but he did not. But I understand the commitment of the gentleman when I asked him to support the bill he said I want to approach this…

I think we probably need both. I think we need to see some regulatory oversight in the vacuum that was created by ERISA. I think we would probably need less of that if the Campbell bill passed. I do not see them as exclusive of each other…

So it would be the gentleman's contention that since Congress is indicating now that they think that there is a problem, our leadership does too, that there is a problem with HMO abuses, that for those who think, well, let the market do…

Six-tenths of 1 percent. And I would point out that that is probably an accurate figure. I think that there would be a very small increase. And the reason why there would be a very small increase is because, quite frankly, when groups of…

I go overseas and I do cleft lip and palate operations in Third World countries where the families cannot afford it. But I will tell you what, people are spending an awful lot of money in this country for their health insurance. It ought…

Let us deal with some of the myths about the Campbell bill. Some people say that this would allow price fixing. I wonder if the gentleman would like to address that issue.

if we are looking at devoting some funds for tax cuts, why do we not devote those tax cut funds or a large portion of it to relief on the payroll tax, which is the tax which hits the average American the hardest?

A Democrat. And then use part of that surplus that we all want to keep coming in, use part of that projected surplus to make up the difference. That is a tax cut. That is a tax cut for the people who need it the most. That is also helping…

It is pretty simple. It is demographics. In 1935, when our Social Security System was put into place, we had 42 workers for every retired person over 65. Today, as the gentleman highlighted earlier, we have three workers for every retired…

My constituents back in Iowa tell me that as we look at the surplus, the number 1 thing that they want us to do with it right now is to pay down the debt, number one; number 2, to secure Medicare and Social Security; and number 3, in the…

The Social Security surplus must be locked away for Social Security only. As you know, when these Democrats, frankly, the leadership, had control of this budget for 40 years, they used the Social Security money for other purposes. It is…

I think that there is a way to do a compromise on this issue, because I think Members of the Democratic side, your side and my side, would both like to see all Americans be wealthier. We probably both would like to see especially the…

I agree with the gentlewoman, let us say that you did set up personal accounts, and how you do that is open to debate, but let us say that you did that, you reduced the average payroll tax for a worker; let us, say, number one that we are…

I was very moved by your presentation on social security. I think it is a very, very important issue. There is no doubt about it, that elderly women depend on social security in order to stay out of poverty. The statistics of the…

I am going to talk tonight about the vote that the House is going to make next week on extending permanent normal trade relations to China. Capitol Hill is abuzz about this vote which we are going to make next week. It seems that everyone…

I rise in opposition reluctantly to the amendment by my good friend from Ohio in favor of the amendment of the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Delahunt) and also, when it comes up, the amendment offered by the gentleman from Oklahoma…

on last Friday, in the USA Today, I could not help but notice on the front page an article. It was called ``HMOs Take Spiritual Approach.'' It is written by Julie Appleby. It starts out by saying ``Health plans, buffeted in recent years by…

I just point out that my colleague from California has been a stalwart in working on matters of health concern for his constituents and in particular has been very strong on supporting a Patient's Bill of Rights. I appreciate his work and…

times could hardly be better. We are in the longest business expansion in our Nation's history. The economy is booming. Companies are reporting solid profits. Orders for durable goods were up 2.6 percent in March, and the Commerce…