Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010

Floor Speech

AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2010 -- (Senate - August 04, 2009)

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HEALTH CARE REFORM

Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I rise again, as I have every day for the last week or so, to share some letters from Ohioans--from people in Painesville, Findlay, Lima, Springfield, Zanesville, and all over my State--which speak to people and their health care situations.

We hear discussion in this Chamber of market exclusivity and the gateway and the exchanges and all these kinds of Washington terms that people don't necessarily understand, but we don't talk often enough about how this health care system today is damaging the country. We don't think often enough about the situations people find themselves in.

We are not just enacting health care reform. If we do nothing, if we continue down this road, it means that small businesses, that are so overwhelmed with health care costs, are going to go out of business; that more small businesses are going to have to eliminate their insurance programs; and larger businesses--our biggest companies in the country--are having trouble competing internationally because of health care costs. People are paying huge costs out of pocket for their copays or deductibles, and so they cannot afford health care insurance. This means many people have deferred care, which is no care.

At the same time, we see the Nation's insurance companies all too often using preexisting conditions to deny care; using lifetime caps to deny care. This system is broken. Many parts of the system work, and the point of this bill is to protect what works and to fix what is broken in our health care system.

For 4 or 5 minutes, I wish to share some letters I have received from people around my State of Ohio about the situations they are facing with their health care. This is Debra, from Adams County. Adams County is three counties east of Cincinnati on the Ohio River.

Debra writes:

In October 2003, I discovered I had breast cancer. Luckily we found it early and I was treated with a lumpectomy and radiation treatments. I'm doing fine now. But I had to fight with the insurance companies to pay for the radiation treatments. I had 32 radiation sessions and they were over $800 per treatment. To 2002 I paid $218 per month for health insurance. Over the next 3 years my premiums were increased to $550 per month. Today, the insurance company increased premiums to $719 per month.

We are not poor but we are not rich, but $719 per month for insurance is half of what I receive in a month. I cannot afford to pay that amount. No insurance company wants to take me because of my preexisting breast cancer condition. I don't know what I am going to do. If I cancel the insurance and then I come down with cancer again or another serious illness, we will lose everything we worked so hard for all our lives.

I paid for my own insurance since 1985 and have never asked for help, but I can't do this. Please can you help me?

Think about this. This is a woman who was paying $200 per month for health insurance. She paid for health insurance for almost 25 years. Then she gets sick. Then she had to fight with her insurance to get them to even pay for the treatment. Then they more than tripled the cost of her health insurance.

That is not what health insurance should do. That is not what a functioning good health care system should do. That is why we need this health care reform, to help people such as Debra in Adams County.

Barbara from Delaware County, an increasingly suburban but somewhat rural county straight north of Columbus, central Ohio. Barbara writes:

I had excellent insurance when employed for many years. Then I was laid off when I turned 63. I went without insurance and tried to find a health insurance policy which I could afford. I was very happy to turn 65 and have Medicare.

After having worked for 30 years, I am very grateful for both Social Security and for Medicare. At the age of 68, I don't mind paying into the system since I am glad to be part of a system that helps all of us who are in our advanced years. The security of knowing that I would be covered if something unforeseen would occur keeps my stress level down.

Barbara lost her job at 63, lost her insurance, fortunately had no catastrophic illness or disease happen between 63 and 65 until she got on Medicare. But when I hear this kind of assessment--when I hear her talk about Social Security and Medicare and how it has been for her--and then last night on this Senate floor I heard one of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle talk about how government cannot do anything right, we don't want government involved in health care, this is all a conspiracy of big government intrusion into our lives--think about Social Security; think about Medicare.

We know government has run Social Security and Medicare pretty darn well. Medicare has an administrative cost of well under 5 percent. Private insurance has administrative costs of 15, 20, 25, sometimes 30 percent. We know this health care system--this is not going to be a single-payer system. People will have choices between the public option and individual insurance plans. That is the way we are going to rebuild this health care system. If you are in health care that you appreciate and you are satisfied with, you can keep it. We are going to put some consumer protections on it to make it better.

Barbara speaks so articulately about why Medicare and Social Security work.

The last couple of letters I will read--this is from Cynthia, from Mercer County, on the Indiana border in western Ohio.

My son had a cyst removed in February that cost $8,000 and I had hernia surgery in May that cost $12,000. My insurance company picked up some of the cost but I only make $31,000 a year. We can't even afford my property taxes. My son also has a learning disability and will likely not go to college this fall; therefore, my insurance company sees fit to drop him from coverage in October when he turns 19. Americans who work hard should be at least granted excellent affordable health care without breaking the bank. Let's get the best care possible, not just a Band-Aid.

Cynthia's son, when he turns 19, gets dropped off the insurance plan. Our legislation says if you choose to, you can stay on your parents' insurance plan until you turn 26. So it gets people through those tough years of school, looking for a job, maybe into the military, coming out of the military--all the things that happen in young lives. Our bill protects people up to age 26.

Today, under the status quo, Cynthia is not protected. Cynthia's son is not protected. Cynthia cannot afford these huge costs, these huge premiums, these huge copays and deductibles. That is why we need a change.

The last letter I will read is from Mike from Ross County. The county seat of Ross County is Chillicothe, a couple of counties south of Columbus. Mike writes:

I am a self-employed small businessman. I am unable to obtain insurance for my wife and one of my two daughters. I live that risk every day, praying that my wife and daughter do not need major medical care. This is America, we can and must do better than that.

One of the things we did in this bill was put together special provisions for small business people so if you are self-employed, if you run a small business, you can get insurance at a more reasonable cost. We know big insurance companies charge small business much more per person than they charge larger businesses. This will allow small business to go with other small businesses in what we call the exchange, and they will get much better rates because the insurance costs and the costs of illness and treatment will be spread over hundreds of thousands of people instead of only 5 or 6 or 10 people in one of these health care plans in a small business.

This also has tax credits, additional tax credits for small businesses. We are going to see a lot of help in this legislation for small business.

I will close again saying our health care bill that was voted out of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee protects what works in our health care system and fixes what is broken. If you are happy with your health care insurance, you can keep it. If you are happy with your employer plan, you can keep it. We will build some consumer protections around it.

If you are not happy, you are dissatisfied, or you don't have insurance, you will get insurance under this bill.

I yield the floor.

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