Tom Harkin: “I will finish with 1 more minute. As I was saying to my friend from Massachusetts, many people with disabilities have to…”

“I will finish with 1 more minute. As I was saying to my friend from Massachusetts, many people with disabilities have to see a specialist, but so many times it is hard for a person with a physical disability to get out, get the bus, get special transportation. Now they have to see the gatekeeper every time. The HMO says: No, you have to come in and qualify for each and every time you want to see that specialist. This bill does away with that. Will someone offer an amendment that says to someone with a disability: I do not care; you have to go through that gatekeeper time after time to see the specialist you need to see. I agree with the Senator from Massachusetts; the bipartisan commission worked this out. These are commonsense approaches. You can take this bill to any townhall meeting in Massachusetts, Iowa, or Arkansas and lay it out for average Americans, and they will say: Yes, this makes sense. This bill makes sense and that is why we have to do it.”