On the recordAugust 2, 2001
Mr. Chairman, on behalf of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, I am pleased to open this debate on the Patient Protection Act. A concern of all of us is the needs of American families for health coverage and health care. Let me make a point that I think is incontrovertible, and that is that the most important patient protection in America is access to affordable health insurance, to health coverage, and to care. Mr. Chairman, new costs and new litigation and new bureaucracy can, we know, raise the cost of health care, and, therefore, the cost of health insurance. Costs will either drive a reduction in benefit or drive a reduction in coverage; and so, as we debate this legislation, let us not pretend that litigation and bureaucracy and mandates are free.
Source
govinfo.gov
