Political Quotes

“Hearing some of the earlier discussion, just for a data point, this is December 21, the longest night of the year, as they say. On August 21, the former Vice President, in accepting the Democratic Party nomination for President, in his acceptance speech, said: Look, let's be clear. No miracle is coming. Well, here we are, 4 months later, with not one but two vaccines, each in excess of 90 percent effective; absolutely phenomenal. As another data point, in August 2014, the Ebola crisis was raging in Western Africa. A vaccine was out of phase 1 trials. It took 5\1/2\ years to deliver that vaccine. This one was delivered in 10 months. It is absolutely incredible. Look, in the bill before us today, there are some high points, and there are some low points. A couple of things I do want to point out. The Independence at Home Act that I introduced with Congresswoman Dingell several years ago was continued and expanded. One of the biggest deals for me is coverage for immunosuppressive drugs after a renal transplant. I have been working on this for 10 years. Now, we have provided additional protection for people who are recipients of renal transplants so that they can continue to get their immunosuppressive drugs. Some flexibility has been provided in the bill to allow for value- based care. The alternative payment model threshold is frozen for 2 years. That is important.…”