Janice Schakowsky: “Thank you. And that is so important to every woman in America, that we will finally be on a par, which under current…”

“Thank you. And that is so important to every woman in America, that we will finally be on a par, which under current circumstances isn't good enough, because the insurance companies--why is it that adding 30 million more people isn't good for them? Because they don't want everybody. They want to pick and choose. They want to pick the healthiest people. It really shouldn't be called health insurance. Well, I guess it is, it is only for healthy people. That is accurate. What we do is we start deciding whether or not rate increases are reasonable or unreasonable. We are not against profits here. We are still doing private insurance. But for heaven's sakes, when you start talking about 50, 60, 94 percent rate increases, they are going to have to justify that. I am proud to have introduced that amendment that says that we are finally going to get a handle on it. I come from a State where there are no limits, there is no regulatory body that can say how high rates can go. And as you can see, right now--in fact the insurance companies are kind of helping us pass this bill because they are showing us if we do nothing, they are going to keep raising their rates double digits, or almost triple digits and charging people.”