Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 1215. My Republican colleagues seem to have a fixation with caps. In their healthcare bill, they slash Medicaid and, for the first time in its history, cap Federal funding. The result: hospital closures, reimbursement and staffing cuts, reduced access, and lower quality. Now, in this bill, they want to impose another cap, a cap on noneconomic damages for injured healthcare consumers. So who will be hurt? It will be people like the 76-year-old woman whose tailbone had to be removed because her bed sores went untreated for 12 days or an 81-year- old resident who died because her ventilator was dislodged, alarms sounded, and no one responded. How about the family of a 92-year-old man who died after suffering from malnutrition and dehydration and was found with live insects in his eyes and mouth? How do we put a $250,000 value on those injured? Besides, this is a solution looking for a problem. There is no medical malpractice lawsuit crisis. Between 2000 and 2015, the number of claims dropped more than 40 percent and the amount paid fell 23 percent. But we do face a medical crisis. Nearly half a million Americans die every year from preventable medical errors, and many more are permanently injured. This bill does nothing to solve that problem. Instead, it just takes away the right of the injured consumers.…”