PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 525, SMALL BUSINESS HEALTH FAIRNESS ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - July 26, 2005)
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Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this time and for her leadership and consistent work on behalf of the American people regardless of what issue and what bills we are dealing with today. I want to say that I join her today in opposition to this rule and to the underlying bill. It is fundamentally flawed not only for what it does, but for what it fails to do.
Mr. Speaker, if this bill were made law, we would still have well over 44 million people in our country uninsured. Something is wrong. Something is fundamentally wrong where in the wealthiest Nation in the world we have 44 million uninsured. Where, quite frankly, is the morality in that? Under this bill, of the 45 million uninsured Americans in this country, only 600,000 people would move into coverage, while 10,000 workers with coverage would be pushed off of their current plans.
Not only does this bill fail to provide any significant coverage for the uninsured, it also puts women and girls at risk by preempting very strong State laws. Specifically, the bill overrides contraceptive protections in 21 States that currently ensure access to contraceptives and treatments for sexually transmitted diseases. Clearly, Mr. Speaker, this bill puts women and girls at risk and makes empty promises to millions of uninsured Americans in desperate need of health care.
Instead of considering this bill, we should be debating the real question: How do we begin to put people before profits in our own health care system? Millions of Americans are calling on Congress to address this question by debating and voting on meaningful proposals, like universal health care, reimportation of prescription drugs, and allowing HHS to negotiate drug prices for Medicare recipients. It is time for Congress to wake up and take a hard look at our broken health care system. It is time for us to make a real effort at reform.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 525 does nothing to expand health care to those who need it the most, and it undermines vital protections for women and girls. As a former small business owner, I know from years of experience the difficulties small businesses face due to a lack of consistent cash flow to afford these payments. Profitability for small businesses to afford health care contributions should really be addressed, and that is what we should be talking about today.
What this bill should do is assist small employers or employees in affording premium payments. I am sure that is why 69 local Chambers of Commerce, the National Governors Association, 41 attorneys general, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and over 1,300 business, labor and community organizations oppose H.R. 525. This bill is bad for the health of our country.
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