John Dingell

The bills before us today would strip historic reforms that protect consumers and it is going to leave us in a situation where the things that we have done to ensure and protect the rights of the American public are stripped away in a most…

The real intention appears to be to eliminate the insurance reforms enacted by the Affordable Care Act.

At a time when everybody is being asked to tighten their belts and find and create efficiencies, asking for an exemption from these pressures, particularly at the expense of consumer pocketbooks, is not something that I think the consumers…

Is it true that prior to the Affordable Care Act, MLR standards and/or reporting requirements varied widely from State to State? Yes or no.

Now, as I understand this, what we are essentially doing is setting up two categories of insurance carriers.

Does the legislation that we are discussing here allow patients to keep their insurance if they like it?

You just don't get insurance if you have a preexisting condition.

These two bills are a direct and unfortunate assault on the sick, the elderly and the disabled who deserve protection and assurance that they will have the care they need when they are wheeled into an emergency room.

Consumers in grandfathered health plans including those that have raised premiums, cut benefits or increased cost sharing would not have any federally guaranteed rights to internal and external appeals.

I am anxious to work with the gentleman if he will stop pushing this kind of nonsense legislation.

Bad piece of legislation. I hope everybody is noting it.

My Republicans have said all along that the Affordable Care Act is turning the doctor-patient relationship into a patient-government relationship.

Today's hearing, Mr. Chairman, is yet another unfortunate attempt by my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to roll back the Patient's Bill of Rights, which is included in the Affordable Care Act.

This creates an environment then where insurers, not health professionals, will be making treatment decisions without opportunity for outside review.

As you know, ACA sets a minimum federal MLR standard.

I urge my colleagues to defeat this legislation, to not let it out of the committee, and to have an honest exposition of the abuses we are attacking.

Yes, if they are exempted, it will be, as I said in my testimony, really a gift to the insurance industry because it will give them just one more way that they can meet regulations that they could already be meeting if they were to reduce…

The United States will be a creditor?

The value--the analysis that produced the going concern valuation suggested that it was a 2 to 4x greater recovery likely to the taxpayer than a liquidation analysis.

We have done things to get ourselves in a position where we see that Solyndra had a chance.

I have been waiting anxiously to hear what we have to show that there is wrongdoing here, and I am still waiting to see something that makes me be concerned that we have here some wrongdoing.

I am very pleased to see that we are having proper oversight and it is my hope as we move forward that if the majority has evidence of wrongdoing, they will present it to us so we can take proper action.

We expect so. We will have to see what happens actually in the bankruptcy process.

I find myself affronted that I am reading about these things in the newspaper and am not having them presented to me.

I want them in the record, Mr. Chairman.