Patrick J. Tiberi: “Reclaiming my time, not lately. Two years ago. One of the frustrations about the CBO report that never gets reported is…”

“Reclaiming my time, not lately. Two years ago. One of the frustrations about the CBO report that never gets reported is the fact that millions of people will choose not to have healthcare. That is what the CBO says. It is not often repeated in the national media or on the floor here, but I would just kind of remind everybody that, often, the other side of the aisle speaks a lot about choice and the freedom to choose. And with respect to healthcare, that is what millions of people will do, according to CBO. I would also like to remind my friend--and I do mean that--that there are millions of Americans in my State alone who have insurance but don't have the choice of provider they once had or the choice of a hospital they once had. That is pretty traumatic. There are people who have insurance, but premiums have doubled and tripled in the last several years and out-of-pocket expenses for those who are not subsidized have gone to levels that are unprecedented. I surely appreciate and would remind the gentleman from Massachusetts that this bill before us today simply says that we expand choices, we expand options for Americans by allowing them for the very first time to receive financial assistance if they lose their healthcare insurance. I know it is not perfect, but it is good. I hope that we can improve on all these aspects that the gentleman and I have talked about today. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Thompson of Pennsylvania).…”