Kay Hagan: “I thank Senator Warner. I too appreciate the time for us to come down here and talk about the need for health care…”

“I thank Senator Warner. I too appreciate the time for us to come down here and talk about the need for health care reform. The bill that was signed into law yesterday is getting us on that track. The new and historic law, combined with the bill we are now considering in the Senate, is going to reform our health care system to reduce costs and improve patient care for those families in North Carolina and in Virginia and families across America. In 1996, the average premium in North Carolina for a family of four was $6,000. Today it is $12,000. It is projected, in 2016, to be 24,000. People cannot afford that. That is why we need to have change. After decades of working to fix a broken health care system, this law controls exploding costs, increases access to health care, and reduces our long-term deficit, which I know we are very concerned about, by as much as $1.2 trillion over the next 20 years. But in addition to containing costs, health care reform will improve access and quality of health care for millions of Americans. Right now, in North Carolina, we have 1.7 million people without insurance. They will now have access to a family doctor. This bill provides immediate benefits to small businesses, middle-class families, and seniors in North Carolina.”