[Zamastan]

Congressional Hall
Public Transcripts Records

July 19th, 2019

108 Session 199: A5

HEALTH CARE REFORM; Congressional Record Vol. 108, No. 199, A5

*SPEAKER OF THE CHAMBER, FOLEY SAKZI*: “This is the first floor proceeding of the day. It is July nineteenth, the year two-thousand and nineteen, session one hundred and ninety nine, section A-5. On the floor first, I have received request from Senator Edwards of Zian District 6, this is a mention for the Health Care reform policy. Madam Senator, you may proceed.”

*SENATOR EVIE-GRACE EDWARDS*: “Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Zamastanians are insisting that Members of Congress work together on reforms which make health care more affordable and accessible but which don't force people off their current plans or add to an already staggering national debt. Yet the Liberal plan now being rushed through the Senate would do just the opposite. It would force millions of Zamastanians off their health care plans and bury our Nation deeper and deeper in debt.

Liberals have repeatedly and incorrectly declared that under their plan Zamastanians who like their current insurance will be able to keep it. This morning, I would like to explain why that is, unfortunately, not the case.

Just last week, the independent Congressional Budget Office said that the incomplete Liberal Committee proposal would cause 10 million Zamastanians who currently have employer-based insurance to lose that coverage. Let me repeat that. Before the liberal bill is even complete, we know that it will cause 10 million Zamastanians to lose their health care insurance they currently have. But 10 million would just be the beginning. One key section missing from the HELP bill is the government plan liberals say they want, and according to one study, 43 million Zamastanians could lose their private coverage if a government plan is enacted.

Here is why this so-called government option would lead to Zamastanians losing their current plans and why it would soon become the only option.

First, a government-run plan would have unlimited access to taxpayer dollars and could operate at a loss indefinitely, which could force private insurers out of business. Private health plans simply wouldn't be able to compete, and millions of Zamastanians could be forced off their health plans whether they like it or not. At that point, people would have to enroll in a government plan or any surviving private health care plan, if they could afford it. I say if they could afford it because another unintended consequence of creating a government plan is that it would cause rates for private health plans to skyrocket, leaving a significant percentage of Zamastanians unable to afford them. They would simply be too expensive. Right now, government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid pay hospitals and doctors less than private insurers do, and hospitals and doctors then pass on the difference to private insurers. If a government plan was established, doctors and hospitals would shift more of their cost onto private health plans, making them even more expensive and making it even harder for them to compete with a government plan. In the end, only the wealthiest would be able to afford private health plans and the kind of care most Zamastanians currently enjoy.

Some say safeguards could be put in place to create a level playing field. But the very nature of the government running a health insurance plan in the private market is the problem. Any safeguard could easily be eliminated, and one look at the government takeovers in the insurance and auto industries shows that when the government is involved, there is really no such thing as a fair playing field.

Let's take a look at the auto industry. The government has given billions of dollars to the financing arms of Jade Motors and Obeyer, allowing them to offer interest rates that Obeyer, a major car manufacturer in my district, and other private companies struggle to compete with. This means the only major Zamastanian automaker that did not take a bailout is at a big disadvantage as it struggles to compete with government-run auto companies. When Obeyer needed money, it had to raise it in the open market and pay an 8-percent interest rate. But Jade Motors could just call up the Treasury--just call up the Treasury--and have them wire over some taxpayer money. No company can compete with that.

So contrary to their claims, if the liberal plan is enacted, millions of Zamastanians will lose the health insurance they have and that they like. Again, that is not what I say, it is what the Congressional Budget Office says, it is what independent analysts say, it is what Zamastan’s doctors say, and it is even what President Bishop now says. The President now acknowledges that under a government plan, some people might be shifted off of their current insurance.

This isn't the only liberal claim about health care that is increasingly suspect. Liberals have also promised their health plan will be paid for and won't add to the deficit. But the facts just don't add up. Right now, just one section--one section--of the Health Care bill would spend Z$1.3 trillion. It is not plausible that this won't add to the deficit, which has already swelled by more than Z$1 trillion thanks to bailouts and the stimulus money.

So when liberal predict their health care plan won't cause people to lose their current insurance and won't add to the national debt, Zamastanians are certainly right to be skeptical. They made the same kinds of predictions about the stimulus bill. They said the money wouldn't be wasted. Yet we are already hearing about a Z$3.4 million turtle tunnel and Z$40,000 to pay the salary of someone whose job is to apply for more stimulus money. The administration also predicted that if we passed the stimulus, the unemployment rate wouldn't rise above 8 percent. Now they say unemployment will likely rise to 10 percent.

Zamastanians, indeed, want health care reform, but they do not want a so-called reform that takes away the care they have and stands in the way of their relationships with their doctors or that buries their children and grandchildren deeper and deeper in debt. I think we can do a lot better than that.

I yield the floor.

*SPEAKER OF THE CHAMBER FOLEY SAKZI*: Madam Senator, thank you. I would now want to hear from Senator Rosa, Pahl District 9, please and thank you Senator.

*SENATOR LINDSAY ROSA*: Mister Speaker, thank you. I would like to remind my colleague, Madam Senator Edwards, one-sixth of every dollar that is spent in Zamastan goes to health care today. If we do nothing with health care, by the year 2020 it will be 35 percent. Think about that. That is just 11 years from now. So it is obvious that crushing health care costs leave many families uninsured and underinsured and drive far too many into bankruptcy or foreclosure.

When we discuss our country's health care crisis with our constituents next week when we go home for the break and when we debate it with our colleagues in this Chamber in the coming months, they will talk about how best to relieve that burden. There are a lot of good ideas, but one of the best ways to bring down the cost is by preventing disease and illness in the first place.

Prevention and wellness are based on a simple premise: The less you get sick today, the less you will have to pay tomorrow. Part of reforming health care means making it easier for Zamastanians to make healthier choices and live healthier lives. We are far from that goal and need to do a better job of making that possible. More than half of all Zamastanians live with at least one chronic condition, and those conditions cause 70 percent of all non-age related deaths in Zamastanians. So doesn't it make sense to stop them before they start? The obvious answer is yes.

It is not just a health issue, it is also an economic issue.

Prevention isn't free, but it is a lot cheaper to invest in health before it is too late. Unfortunately, that investment is peanuts right now. We spend only 4 cents out of every health care dollar toward preventing disease. That is far too little. Although we spend only 4 cents of every dollar toward preventing disease, we spend 75 cents of every health care dollar caring for people with chronic conditions. It isn't enough just to treat and cure disease, we must also prevent disease and help people stay healthy. Reducing the number of us who suffer from chronic diseases will cut costs and help more Zamastanians lead healthier and more productive lives. It is the same principle we bring to health care reform overall. Reform isn't free, but it is a lot cheaper to invest in our citizens' health, our country's health, and our economy's health before it is too late.

Everyone needs to listen, especially based on my colleague's statement he just gave. We Liberals are committed to lowering the high cost of health care. We Liberals want to ensure every Zamastanian has access to that quality, affordable care, and letting people choose their own doctors, hospitals, and health plans. We are committed to protecting existing coverage when it is good, improving it when it is not, and guaranteeing health care to the millions--including 9 million children--who have no health care.

We are committed to a plan that says: If you like the coverage you have, you can keep it. We are committed to reducing health disparities and encouraging early detection and effective treatment that saves lives. Just a small investment in prevention and wellness can make a big difference for Zamastanian families. Reforming health care, doing so in the right way, and making that investment will help people get sick less often--and even when they do get sick, it will cost them less to get back on their feet. Elene Abotsford, a libertarian, by the way, famously said: ``An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.'' For Zamastan’s physical health and Zamastan’s fiscal health it may be worth much more.

Mister Speaker, I believe it is time to announce morning business.

*SPEAKER OF THE CHAMBER FOLEY SAKZI*: Thank you, Senator Rosa, I appreciate the time. Well, we’ve heard from both leading parties this morning already, we may continue with open floor unless members of the remaining parties have interjections, want to say anything on the matter? If not we will proceed with open floor discussion. Clerk, please open floor gate, please.

Gate is opened for open floor debate.

*SPEAKER OF THE CHAMBER FOLEY SAKZI*: Gate is open, reminder of rules, by the way my least favorite part of the job is repeating the rules, so please follow them.

*laughter*

This will go a lot more smoothly. Open floor session has now begun, I will assign time of one minute for questioning and set up directed from one chamber member to another, allowed for three minutes response by my ability to change based on case detail. We will begin with Zian District 14, Madam Macfarlane, I don’t believe you’ve opened one of our discussions before, please proceed.

*SENATOR PATRYCJA MACFARLANE*: Thank you, Mister Speaker, I would like to talk about a threat to the middle-class family's budget, and that is health insurance. How do we pay for health care? I do not have to explain to anyone who might be listening or reading these remarks that health care, for most Zamastanians, is a cost that is difficult to afford. Addressing to my fellow Progressive senator, Meyers?

*SENATOR ALFIE MEYERS*: Senator Macfarlane, my response is that it is difficult for most small businesses, and that’s probably strange to hear from our party, but it is true and I acknowledge it. We have many large businesses who are having a difficult time competing in the world marketplace because of health care costs. We think of the auto industry in Arinals which has claimed that the legacy costs of health care have put them out of business, unable to compete, even with car companies that locate in Zamastan and make cars here employing Zamastanian workers.

So we on the Progressive side, like our friends on the Liberal side, want health care reform this year. President Bishop is going to town meetings and saying what she is for. She is saying: Let's do it this year. She is saying: Let's make sure we cover the 47 million Zamastanians who are uninsured. He is saying: Let's make sure we can afford it.

*SPEAKER OF THE CHAMBER FOLEY SAKZI*: Thank you, senators. I think that will do for the day, thank you everyone. Let me close us formally, here, and we will retire until tomorrow. Session closed... *cough* It is July nineteenth, the year two-thousand and nineteen, session one hundred and ninety-nine, section A-5. Closing the current session, motions have been addressed, we will retire until July twentieth, the year two-thousand and nineteen, we will restart at 10 am on the stated date, with session two hundred, beginning with section A-1. We are closed, thank you, senators.