Brian Higgins: “Last week's healthcare disaster was instructive because, in the end, it was never really about health care at all. Your…”

“Last week's healthcare disaster was instructive because, in the end, it was never really about health care at all. Your plan was a thinly-veiled scheme to deliver a massive tax cut to health insurance executives and their cronies. UnitedHealthcare is one of America's largest, private healthcare insurance companies. UnitedHealthcare is under investigation for defrauding Medicare and the Federal Government out of billions of dollars. UnitedHealthcare's CEO made $66 million in 2014--one man, one salary, in 1 year--$66 million under investigation for defrauding the Medicare program; and your bill, on page 67, in seven simple words, would have rewarded this potentially criminal behavior with a massive tax cut. Mr. Speaker, Americans, on average, will pay more than $10,000 per person for health care this year. Let's use the enormous leverage of the Federal Government to drive down those costs and to drive up quality for all Americans. ____________________”