David Thomas: “Mr. Speaker, the special rule for coordination of long-term care policies has been misinterpreted by some in the…”

“Mr. Speaker, the special rule for coordination of long-term care policies has been misinterpreted by some in the administration. I want to clarify that this rule applies to policies that provide health care benefits only for long-term care and similar benefits, such as community-based care, and would not apply to a policy that covers other health care benefits. Mr. Speaker, we have been hearing for some time that all the Democrats want is Kassebaum. The gentleman from New York said ``Let's have `pure' Kassebaum.'' Let me tell you, what you have in front of you is not pure Kassebaum. As you might expect, the Democrats have changed the bill. They have told you they have only added things to it. They said, ``We just wanted to help the self-employed more than the Republicans.'' You left the self-employed stranded for a whole year in 1994 when you were in the majority. Nice to have you come around and have you helping the self-employed. If this is supposed to be pure Kassebaum, why don't you include the items on page 105? Title III, miscellaneous provisions. ``HMO's allowed to offer plans with deductibles to individuals with medical savings accounts.'' Kassebaum includes medical savings accounts and the ability to apply to an HMO to receive benefits while you have a medical savings account. You conveniently left that out.”