Tom Harkin: “I supported the health insurance conference agreement. I want to speak a few minutes about some of the very good and…”

“I supported the health insurance conference agreement. I want to speak a few minutes about some of the very good and some very problematic provisions in this agreement. I want to congratulate Senator Kennedy and Senator Kassebaum and others for their hard work and perseverance. A number of the provisions of this bill follow the framework of a proposal I put forth in the last Congress. In 1994, I offered what I called a downpayment plan that would have made health insurance affordable for every child in America, provided for increased portability and other insurance reforms, full tax deductibility of health insurance costs for the self-employed and a clampdown on health care fraud, waste, and abuse. I am pleased that provisions similar to several of these items are included in this conference report. I am very pleased that this legislation prohibits group and individual health plans from establishing eligibility, continuation, or enrollment requirements based on genetic information. I offered an amendment on this issue during committee consideration of S. 1028 and am pleased that it is included in the conference bill. I believe this is a very important provision that will become even more important as the availability and use of genetic tests grows in the coming years. Genetic information should be used to help people stay healthy and should not be used to put a person at a disadvantage when it comes to health insurance.”