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Health Care Reform

Date: July 29, 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Health and Health Care


HEALTH CARE REFORM -- (House of Representatives - July 29, 2009)

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Mr. OLVER. Mr. Speaker, this is our year for health insurance reform. The private health insurance industry has reaped enormous profits over the last 9 years while Americans' wages have barely increased at all. On average, 30 percent of the $1.8 trillion in premiums that Americans pay to health insurance companies pays for overhead costs--salaries, administrative, lobbying, and profits--rather than for health care. Americans cannot afford that waste of scarce dollars. Our health reform legislation will limit such overhead spending to no more than 15 percent.

We have to focus our priorities on the quality of health care itself. For example, the diabetes epidemic demonstrates dramatically how critical preventative medicine is to America's children. One-third of all children born this decade are expected to develop diabetes in their lifetimes. The prevention of diabetes will make America healthier, and we will avoid the enormous future costs of diabetes treatment.

Now is the time to act on health care reform.

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