Angie Craig: “I had planned up until an hour ago to offer a detailed amendment on medical savings accounts that I think fits…”

“I had planned up until an hour ago to offer a detailed amendment on medical savings accounts that I think fits appropriately into any discussion about patient's rights in this country. The first and foremost right is access to health care, relatively unfettered access to health care. The problem with that under the current scenario on the floor is it would bring about a point of order and I do not want this issue to fall based on that. Certainly it is appropriate we are here and we are taking the necessary and adequate time to debate patient's rights in American health care. I am proud of my party. Republicans have a solid record on protecting patients and their rights. We have fought for patients' rights from the very day we defeated the Clinton health care plan a good number of years ago, which was a massive effort to use government to take over our health care system, which would have largely let bureaucrats decide whether your family would get the medical care they need. It was a Republican Congress that stood up for patients' rights by creating medical savings accounts for the first time. Medical savings accounts, in my opinion, are the ultimate in patient protection for they throw the lawyers, employers, and bureaucrats out of the examining room and leave decisions about your health between you and your doctor.”