Gerald Kleczka: “It is amazing to sit here and listen to the debate, how a person can go in less than 24 hours from an SOB to a PAL, and…”

“It is amazing to sit here and listen to the debate, how a person can go in less than 24 hours from an SOB to a PAL, and there is such glowing praise for one of the Members of this body. Wow, where was that praise last year? Where was it 5 years ago when he introduced the Patients' Bill of Rights? What a turnaround. I know the White House operatives have been looking for somebody to bring forth a poison pill to this bill. The insurance companies, the HMOs, do not like it. The Republicans do not like it; the President does not like it. So what we do in this legislation is sell out the patients. The operatives in the White House came here and were looking for someone to do the poison pill. They looked at the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell) and did not get too far there; they looked at the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Ganske) and did not get too far there; then there is a new and sort of popular TV show which I think sums up what happened. My friends, it is called The Weakest Link. They found the weakest link. So, in a hurried fashion, we are presented with that change, which gives insurance companies privileged status; status that doctors do not have, hospitals do not have, but HMOs, health insurance companies, will have under this bill. I think that is sad. Now the opponents of the real Patients' Bill of Rights bill say premiums are going to go up 4 percent. Hundreds of thousands of people are going to lose their health insurance. What is that based on?”