Don Nickles: “These are not insurers. They are providers of care saying that more regulation will do just the opposite--it will…”

“These are not insurers. They are providers of care saying that more regulation will do just the opposite--it will increase costs. Experts are saying the Kennedy proposal will increase costs and therefore increase the uninsured and add a lot of money being expended for defensive purposes in litigation, not for improving quality of care. That is a mistake. I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of my amendment, cosponsored by Senators Jeffords, Frist, Collins, and others. I thank them for their comments. I urge my colleagues to vote no on the Kennedy amendment.”