Michael Burgess: “Well, we don't know because the White House refuses to provide us with any information, even though they've been asked…”

“Well, we don't know because the White House refuses to provide us with any information, even though they've been asked nicely. They were asked more forcefully with the resolution of inquiry in our committee. Chairman Waxman and Ranking Member Barton did send a correspondence down to the White House asking for that information to be supplied to our committee. To date, what we've gotten back is a series of press releases and reprints of pages off of Web sites, but no real information. It would be fascinating to know if it's part of that $2 trillion deal: okay, you're going to get a mandate. Maybe we'll leave out the public option. But, oh, by the way, we're going to trash you every day during this process, so get ready for the next year and a half. We will vilify your industry six ways to Sunday because they certainly have done a good job of doing that. The gentleman points out an excellent point: if an individual is able to buy a policy with the same breaks that a company gets, and that individual is able to keep that insurance over time, a longitudinal relationship with a health insurance company, what a novel concept. I've had the same car insurance since I was 18 years old. I can't tell you how many different health plans I've had because when I was in business for myself, I was always trying to find a better deal because that was one of the number one line-item expenses on my budget every year, providing insurance for my employees.”