Frank Pallone: “I think that this is such an appropriate discussion, and it is such an issue that is on the minds of the American…”

“I think that this is such an appropriate discussion, and it is such an issue that is on the minds of the American people, and that is what is being flaunted here. It is not us. It is about what the American people have talked about in terms of the whole managed care system which they find is out of control. There was a recent Times CNN poll that found that 76 percent of Americans support managed care reform. Only 41 percent said that they were very confident that their health care plan would pay for their treatment if they really got sick. And now you have another, and most people, and I think everybody saw it, As Good As It Gets, the movie where there is the great applause line when Helen Hunt expresses her frustration with the HMOs and managed care because people feel that that is out of control, that they, in fact, have no way of being able to handle this system. More recently we have found that the HMOs are pulling out of Medicare and leaving seniors on their own. It has happened in my State of Connecticut where we have 12,000 people now who are, you know, trying to scramble around for what they are going to do for their health care. Now, it is not only happening in Connecticut, it is happening all over the country. So, the fact is that the public truly knows that the managed care system is out of control.”