Here is what Representative Jane Harman said about why she voted for health care reform. This was originally posted in the March 19, 2010 edition of The Daily Breeze.
Please note that I was against the health care reform legislation, so Harman's decision to vote for it may prevent me from voting for her in the upcoming election(s).
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Why I'm voting for health care reform
By Jane Harman
Posted: 03/20/2010 08:13:26 PM PDT
Later today, I will make the most historic vote in my eight terms in the House.
Thousands of constituents have contacted me. The Capitol grounds are a public square, full of early spring flowers, placards and noisy expressions of views on the biggest health care revision in 70 years. My favorite new friend is an activist in yellow shorts and a pointy blue hat who calls me "Babycakes."
The legislative process has been gritty and endless. The result could have been much better. The bill should have been shorter, simpler and included a robust public option to compete with insurance companies and keep costs down. The language on abortion coverage is convoluted and unnecessary. Current law already forbids using federal funds.
But, on balance, what matters is the bill's real effect on real people in the South Bay.
If you have health insurance - and 63 percent of 36th District residents do - you can keep the same policy, insurer and doctor that you have now. But this bill will improve your current policy by prohibiting lifetime and annual limits on coverage; by making it illegal for your insurer to drop you if you get ill; and by reducing your out-of-pocket costs for preventive care. It also will enable states to roll back the stunning and arbitrary rate hikes like the 39 percent increase Anthem Blue Cross recently announced in California.
The bill cuts the number of uninsured district residents in half by extending coverage to 67,000 people. It will provide tax cuts to 130,000 local middle-income families and more than 15,000 small businesses to make buying private insurance affordable. Many will be covered for the first time in their lives.
And for the approximately 13,500 residents with pre-existing conditions, this legislation will ensure that you cannot be denied coverage - as my 27-year-old son was last summer.
Skyrocketing health care expenses caused 1,100 local bankruptcies in 2008. This bill caps out-of-pocket expenses at about $1,000 per month for families who purchase insurance or who are insured by small businesses. These reforms ensure that no family will have to face financial ruin because of medical bills.
This bill also closes the notorious "doughnut hole" on Medicare prescription drugs. The 2003 Medicare Modernization Act - which I vigorously opposed - capped the amount that the government would pay for drugs until catastrophic federal coverage kicked in. That gap in payments has forced nearly 10,000 local Medicare patients to choose between needed medications or food or shelter. The bill closes the "doughnut hole" completely in 2020, offers a $250 rebate this year and huge discounts on brand-name drugs thereafter.
Kids will be allowed to stay on their parents' coverage until they are 26 - a real boon to 49,000 young adults who otherwise would have a hard time affording insurance.
Four local community health care centers will receive an additional $5.2 million to provide services to the poor and medically underserved. Local hospitals that struggle to cover costs because of the large number of people without insurance they treat will get $12 million in relief annually.
As a Blue Dog Democrat, I'm pleased that the legislation is fully paid for by cuts to bloated federal payments to Medicare Advantage - that will save $400 billion - and a less than 1 percent tax on wealthy wage earners. That will raise $500 billion. In addition, it will reduce federal expenditures by $130billion in the first 10 years and $1.2 trillion in the second decade, making it the largest deficit-reduction measure ever.
Failing to act now on health care reform won't preserve the status quo, it will make things worse. Premiums will climb, as will the number of uninsured, threatening our fragile economic recovery.
When I enter the House chamber for the vote, I will think of the many times presidents and Congresses failed to do what we will likely achieve today. The list includes Presidents Harry Truman, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton.
When I cast my yes vote I will also think of my friend Sen. Edward Kennedy, who didn't live to see his signature issues become law.
This one's for you, Ted.
Rep. Jane Harman, D-El Segundo, represents the 36th Congressional District.
Please note that I was against the health care reform legislation, so Harman's decision to vote for it may prevent me from voting for her in the upcoming election(s).
###
Why I'm voting for health care reform
By Jane Harman
Posted: 03/20/2010 08:13:26 PM PDT
Later today, I will make the most historic vote in my eight terms in the House.
Thousands of constituents have contacted me. The Capitol grounds are a public square, full of early spring flowers, placards and noisy expressions of views on the biggest health care revision in 70 years. My favorite new friend is an activist in yellow shorts and a pointy blue hat who calls me "Babycakes."
The legislative process has been gritty and endless. The result could have been much better. The bill should have been shorter, simpler and included a robust public option to compete with insurance companies and keep costs down. The language on abortion coverage is convoluted and unnecessary. Current law already forbids using federal funds.
But, on balance, what matters is the bill's real effect on real people in the South Bay.
If you have health insurance - and 63 percent of 36th District residents do - you can keep the same policy, insurer and doctor that you have now. But this bill will improve your current policy by prohibiting lifetime and annual limits on coverage; by making it illegal for your insurer to drop you if you get ill; and by reducing your out-of-pocket costs for preventive care. It also will enable states to roll back the stunning and arbitrary rate hikes like the 39 percent increase Anthem Blue Cross recently announced in California.
The bill cuts the number of uninsured district residents in half by extending coverage to 67,000 people. It will provide tax cuts to 130,000 local middle-income families and more than 15,000 small businesses to make buying private insurance affordable. Many will be covered for the first time in their lives.
And for the approximately 13,500 residents with pre-existing conditions, this legislation will ensure that you cannot be denied coverage - as my 27-year-old son was last summer.
Skyrocketing health care expenses caused 1,100 local bankruptcies in 2008. This bill caps out-of-pocket expenses at about $1,000 per month for families who purchase insurance or who are insured by small businesses. These reforms ensure that no family will have to face financial ruin because of medical bills.
This bill also closes the notorious "doughnut hole" on Medicare prescription drugs. The 2003 Medicare Modernization Act - which I vigorously opposed - capped the amount that the government would pay for drugs until catastrophic federal coverage kicked in. That gap in payments has forced nearly 10,000 local Medicare patients to choose between needed medications or food or shelter. The bill closes the "doughnut hole" completely in 2020, offers a $250 rebate this year and huge discounts on brand-name drugs thereafter.
Kids will be allowed to stay on their parents' coverage until they are 26 - a real boon to 49,000 young adults who otherwise would have a hard time affording insurance.
Four local community health care centers will receive an additional $5.2 million to provide services to the poor and medically underserved. Local hospitals that struggle to cover costs because of the large number of people without insurance they treat will get $12 million in relief annually.
As a Blue Dog Democrat, I'm pleased that the legislation is fully paid for by cuts to bloated federal payments to Medicare Advantage - that will save $400 billion - and a less than 1 percent tax on wealthy wage earners. That will raise $500 billion. In addition, it will reduce federal expenditures by $130billion in the first 10 years and $1.2 trillion in the second decade, making it the largest deficit-reduction measure ever.
Failing to act now on health care reform won't preserve the status quo, it will make things worse. Premiums will climb, as will the number of uninsured, threatening our fragile economic recovery.
When I enter the House chamber for the vote, I will think of the many times presidents and Congresses failed to do what we will likely achieve today. The list includes Presidents Harry Truman, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton.
When I cast my yes vote I will also think of my friend Sen. Edward Kennedy, who didn't live to see his signature issues become law.
This one's for you, Ted.
Rep. Jane Harman, D-El Segundo, represents the 36th Congressional District.
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