Health Care Reform

Floor Speech

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, last night I rose to speak on health care reform.

Today, another 14,000 Americans lost their health insurance.

That is 14,000 Americans who had health insurance when I spoke on the floor last night, but tonight each will go to bed fearing that if something happens to them or their family, they could lose everything--their home, their life savings, their economic security, gone.

Tomorrow, it will be another 14,000.

Another 14,000 the day after that.

And another 14,000 every single day until we finally pass real health care reform.

Between now and when we return from recess, half a million Americans will lose their insurance. Some will have preexisting conditions that, under our current system, will prevent them from ever finding coverage again. Some will have medical issues requiring expensive treatments that they will no longer be able to afford. Some will end up in bankruptcy. Some will end up on public assistance. And some will end up in the emergency room with a sick child whose illness could have been prevented with a simple doctor's visit.

The tragedy caused by our broken health care system is ongoing. It is happening right now. And when we come back from recess, I have every hope and expectation that we will be ready to work together to stop it.

I take my Republican colleagues at their word when they say they don't want to stall this effort to death, they simply want bipartisanship.

The Affordable Health Choices Act, passed in the HELP Committee, didn't win bipartisan support, but it is a bipartisan bill. It incorporates 161 Republican amendments, and reflects a spirited and robust debate with participation from all sides--exactly the sort of debate I expect we can have when we come back from recess.

We are not going to agree on every detail, and there will be times when we have to have a simple up-or-down vote and live with the results. But surely we can all agree that the status quo isn't just unacceptable--it is unsustainable. That is why doctors and nurses, insurance companies and drug companies, Democrats and Republicans--all say we need reform.

Well, it is time for us to make that happen.

I believe that our bipartisan approach has yielded a good bill.

If you don't have health insurance, the Affordable Health Choices Act will put it within reach by giving you a range of affordable options to choose from. It forever banishes the term ``preexisting conditions'' from the American vocabulary.

If you have health insurance, the Affordable Health Choices Act will make it less expensive by investing in preventive care to bring down the long-term cost of keeping our citizens well, not to mention eliminating waste and fraud from our system.

And if you like your doctor and your insurance plan, and you are worried about keeping it, the worst thing in the world you could do would be to stand in the way of reform. The Affordable Health Choices Act guarantees that you won't see your insurance be taken away at the moment you need it most or watch as it is priced out of your family's budget.

Whether you have insurance or not, whether you like your health care options or not, whether you are sick or healthy, Democrat or Republican, working-class or a small business owner, reform is for you.

Let us take action on behalf of the 14,000 Americans who will lose insurance tomorrow. Let us take action on behalf of the 45 million uninsured and the 30 million underinsured. Let us take action on behalf of the American people who are looking to us to succeed.

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