Political Quotes

“This health insurance package, despite real inadequacies, deals with three basic problems: First, 45,000 Americans a year die because they lack health insurance. By extending health insurance to 32 million more Americans, this bill will save these lives. A vote for this bill is a vote to save 45,000 lives a year. A ``no'' vote is a vote to acquiesce in these deaths. Second, 55 percent of all personal bankruptcies are caused by health care emergencies and 75 percent of people who file for bankruptcy because of a health emergency have insurance that proves inadequate when they get an expensive illness. By banning rescissions, banning the preexisting conditions insurance bar, banning annual lifetime caps, and by capping out-of-pocket expenses in new plans at $6,200 per year for an individual and $12,300 for a family, with lower caps for low-income families, this bill will ensure nobody goes broke because they get sick. Third, the Congressional Budget Office tells us this bill will reduce the deficit by $138 billion in the first 10 years and by $1.2 trillion in the next 10 years. Mr. Speaker, this bill is historic progress. We should embrace it. Mr. Speaker, make no mistake about it: the bill before us today is far from perfect. Like many of my colleagues in the House, I have outlined numerous concerns with the Senate-passed health insurance bill. And with good reason.…”