Washington – Noting that rising health care costs are an unsustainable burden on our families, businesses, and economy, Senate Finance Committee member Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) today said health care reform is critical for our nation’s future economic security.
Lincoln’s remarks came during the Senate Finance Committee’s mark up of its health care reform bill. Several Lincoln amendments have been included in the modified Chairman’s Mark, released Tuesday.
“The challenges we face did not occur overnight and we cannot expect to solve them with any one silver bullet,” Lincoln said. “I will continue to work to craft a fiscally responsible product that reins in rising health care costs, provides stability to those who like their current health care coverage, and provides better options for those in need of affordable coverage.”
Lincoln’s opening statement, as prepared for delivery, is below.
“Mr. Chairman, thank you for your leadership over these past twenty-plus months as you’ve worked with the members of this Committee in a bipartisan way to find real solutions to this huge problem.
“I also want to thank you for allowing me to deliver my statement this morning after being in Arkansas yesterday to attend to a family matter.
“I attended a memorial service for my husband’s grandmother, known affectionately to us as Mama Ruth, who passed away late last week.
“Mama Ruth, who was just days short of her 112th birthday, was the oldest person in Arkansas. Through the years, she continued to amaze us with her vitality and active lifestyle.
“Mama Ruth liked to say that one of the keys to her long life was that she continued to keep her mind active.
“She was blessed with amazing genes, and I cannot recall her going to the hospital or even needing to take medication to maintain her health. Although all of us would be so lucky to live a long and healthy life like Mama Ruth, she was the exception and not the rule.
“For most Americans, access to affordable, quality health care services is an absolute necessity. And, without a doubt, the current track we are on with regard to health care in this country is completely unsustainable.
“In the current system, the average cost of health insurance coverage for a family cost just below $10,000 in Arkansas in 2006. The cost of the same plan is projected to jump by more than 100 percent, to over $21,000 by 2016.
“Our families cannot sustain this current rate of growth in their health care costs. Our government cannot sustain this current rate of growth with respect to expenditures on Medicare and Medicaid.
“I firmly believe health care reform is a key component to facing our nation’s economic challenges and our government’s budget imbalance. I have said I cannot support any health reform proposal that the Congressional Budget Office cannot certify as reducing the deficit and bringing down the cost of health care over the long term.
“Under the Chairman’s leadership, the mark as proposed does meet these very important goals. It actually bends the cost curve downward in the years ahead, resulting in approximately $1.3 trillion in health care savings for our nation in the next decade, setting us on a sustainable path for the future.
“Throughout this process, it has been my goal to ensure health insurance reform works for small businesses and the self-employed so that they have quality health care options, just like federal employees.
“I’m very pleased that the mark establishes Small Business Health Options Program or SHOP exchanges modeled after the bipartisan SHOP Act I have authored with Senators Snowe and Durbin. It will allow enhanced choice and competition, along with lower costs for our small business employees, who make up approximately half of the uninsured in America.
“I’m also very supportive of the important provisions included to cut the annual estimated $700 billion in inefficiencies, waste, fraud and abuse in the current system; as well as the policies that will require insurance companies to change the way they do business regarding pre-existing conditions, rating and portability.
“These changes can and must be made without harming those who are content with their current coverage.
“Mr. Chairman, thank you again for your work to advance comprehensive health care reform.
“The problems in our health care system did not occur overnight and we cannot expect to solve them with any one silver bullet.
“I look forward to the continuing work within this committee over the next several days and hope that, at the end of the process, we will produce a fiscally responsible product that reins in rising health care costs, provides stability to those who have and like their current health care coverage, and provides better options for those in need of affordable coverage.”
