Bill Delahunt: “I had a revelation during the course of the exchange about capping premiums. What I found particularly fascinating was…”

“I had a revelation during the course of the exchange about capping premiums. What I found particularly fascinating was that my good friend from Georgia, our own Dr. Phil, is an advocate for wage control. In other words, cap those fees as long as, I guess, it is lawyers. Maybe not for CEOs, but at least we know that he is a proponent of wage controls for lawyers. But when it comes to price control, it seems that the majority has a problem. So you are in favor of capping wages, but not in favor of capping prices, because really that is what it comes down to. I guess it is a new tradition within the Republican Party. In any event, for all the reasons that others have suggested, I think not only does this qualify as a bad bill because it is not going to accomplish the goal of lowering premiums, but I think, and I would suggest, it is a cruel bill, because this cap on so-called noneconomic damages impacts the most vulnerable among us, mothers who stay at home and particularly children, because they have no economic damages. They do not have such economic damages as the loss of potential earnings. So apart from their medical bills, all of their losses are noneconomic, like a lifelong physical impairment, or maybe a mental disability, or disfigurement. This bill will deny them the possibility of a life that at least has a modicum of respect and dignity in compensation for their loss, a loss which, by the way, they had no involvement in other than being the victim.”