WASHINGTON, DC - The House Committee on Ways and Means held a hearing today examining specific proposals for reforming America’s health care system to reduce health care costs, protect current coverage and preserve choice for patients to ensure affordable, quality care for all. Today’s hearing was the sixth in a series on health reform held this year. Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) and Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Pete Stark (D-CA) gave the following opening statements:
“It is abundantly clear that we have a serious financial problem as the cost of health care escalates far beyond our imagination and continues to soar upward," said Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel (D-NY). “We have a moral obligation to build on what works in the current system and reform what is broken to control costs and provide peace of mind for the people who have lost their homes or gone into bankruptcy as a result of the cost of health care. We also need to address the waste and inefficiencies in the current system to provide patients with better quality, affordable care."
“We have the support of the President of the United States and we sincerely wish that health reform could be a bipartisan effort," urged Chairman Rangel. “The book is not closed, we have before us a discussion draft, and we have had lengthy discussion in this Committee and others, which I think is healthy, so that at the end of the day when we pass this, more and more Americans would understand that we have done the right thing. Polls indicate that the American people overwhelmingly believe that a competitive public option is essential so that people can go to the exchange and pick and choose with a variety of private options to get the care that meets their needs. Competition among public and private health insurance options will bring out the best in both worlds and, at the end of the day, the American people are going to be the beneficiaries of this effort."
"We are committed to health reform and understand that now is the time to act," said Health Subcommittee Chairman Pete Stark (D-CA). "We`ve worked with our colleagues on the Energy and Commerce and Education and Labor Committees to write a draft proposal that provides affordable, quality health care for all, expands choice, and slows the rate of growth in health care spending."
* Please click here to view a “Fact vs. Fiction" response to the new “independent" analysis conducted by a Republican operative and advanced by Congressional Republicans during today’s hearing.
