Bill Bennett: “The Government has decided that his daughter's choices will be limited to Blue Cross-Blue Shield. The Government has…”

“The Government has decided that his daughter's choices will be limited to Blue Cross-Blue Shield. The Government has decided that the plan I was under before coming to the Senate will not be available to me now that I am in the Senate. The Government has picked, yes, 29 different plans, and that is a lot, but that is not all that is available. I cannot take my money that is being spent for health care, deducted from my pay, go out in the open market and buy something else with it. I can only use it within the framework that this commission that he has described has made available to me. Now, I will concede to him, absolutely, the commission he described did a good job and most employees will find that in the choices the Government offers they will find something that covers their needs. The point is that 29 choices is not the universe. If I want to make choice number 30, my employer--in this case the Government--has decreed that I cannot make choice number 30 with the money they are spending on my behalf for health care.”