Earl Pomeroy: “this House is demonstrating that it cannot competently and fairly deal with difficult health policy questions. Reference…”

“this House is demonstrating that it cannot competently and fairly deal with difficult health policy questions. Reference yesterday, a long, contentious day debating one of the most important issues before this country: whether we can give our seniors prescription drug coverage. All of that debate and much of the venom generated within that debate concerned an unfair rule cooked up in the Committee on Rules at 2:30 in the morning the morning of the debate. I guess it was not the last bad rule we were going to see on important health policy coming out of the Committee on Rules this week. So here we are, late in an absolutely exhausting week, considering another vital health policy question under another unfair rule. Take, for example, the issue of allowing the Coburn amendment and striking the Greenwood amendment. I do not care whether within this body Members are pro-choice, whether they are pro-life, or anywhere in between. The fact of the matter is to allow one side their amendment and not allow the other side their amendment is unfair and speaks to what a skewed, unfortunate rule this is that brings this bill to the floor. That is not the end of the problems within this bill. Allowing physician collusion on fee structures has obvious consequences for Medicare that pays the bills, for Medicaid. But Members do not see any offsets. We do not see any pay-fors in this legislation.”