On the recordJanuary 19, 2011
I thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Speaker, since 1970, health care costs have increased an average of 9.9 percent a year, far outpacing inflation and creating a drag on our economy by increasing the expense of new hiring and undermining new business investment in this Nation. This trend is unsustainable. Yet while costs are increasing, the quality of coverage is declining. Last year, the inability to pay medical bills caused 62 percent of all personal bankruptcies in this country, even though the filer had health insurance in 75 percent of these cases. That is 868,000 American families who went broke last year simply because they got sick, did not have insurance or their insurer refused to cover their bills. This is unacceptable. I often say that health care reform needed a start, not a finish, and that we will be amending and improving the law for years to come. However, the bill before us today takes us back, not forward, with no persuasive plan to reduce costs, improve quality and coverage. This challenge deserves a more serious response. I urge opposition to the bill.
