Arlen Specter: “These are hospitals in great financial distress. These are hospitals which are serving an aging population in…”

“These are hospitals in great financial distress. These are hospitals which are serving an aging population in northeastern Pennsylvania. The way to correct this is to make the adjustment which is present in the House bill which can be accomplished by the Senate receding to the House position. But this year, the leadership of the House of Representatives has included these corrections for these areas, and now I call upon my colleagues on the Appropriations Committee to recede and I call upon my colleagues in the full Senate to approve a conference report which will include these very important corrections for these six counties in Pennsylvania which perform great service. But because of their being surrounded by other hospitals with MSAs, metropolitan statistical areas giving greater reimbursement, they cannot compete with nurses and other medical personnel.”