Henry Waxman

Mr. WAXMAN

Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 3 minutes. Today, we have a historic opportunity. Sixty-five years after Franklin Roosevelt and Social Security and 35 years after Medicare, we have an opportunity, under the leadership of President Obama and Speaker Pelosi, to reform our health care system and at last provide coverage to all Americans. We know that health insurance today is failing our families and our economy. If we do nothing, the system will go bankrupt, premiums will keep skyrocketing, benefits will be slashed, what you get will cost more, and the deficit will increase by billions of dollars. Today, Americans with health insurance know that they are one serious illness away from debt and bankruptcy, and millions of Americans have no insurance at all. With this legislation, we can fix these problems. First and foremost, this bill provides health insurance security for all Americans. If you have health insurance today, you can keep it; you keep your doctor and your other health providers. But if you lose your job, you will not lose your health insurance. If you have a preexisting medical condition, you cannot be denied health insurance. If you have a serious illness, we remove the cap insurance companies have imposed on paying for treatments over your lifetime. Effective immediately, it will be illegal for insurance companies to put lifetime caps on your coverage. And children all the way up to age 27 can continue on their parents' policies. Our bill has historic reforms. It expands coverage and reduces costs. It trains doctors and supports community health centers. It provides a public health insurance option that will give Americans more choice and competition. Our legislation strengthens Medicare. We will eliminate copayments for preventive services. We close and then eliminate the doughnut hole that makes prescription drugs unaffordable for so many of our seniors. And this legislation is affordable. The only thing not affordable is to do nothing. The legislation is fully paid for. It will not add to the deficit over the next two decades. Today, we have the chance of a lifetime to do something great and momentous for the American people. By passing this bill, we can reform health insurance in America and provide all Americans with the security of knowing that when they get sick, care will be available and affordable. I urge all my colleagues to support this bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WAXMAN. If the gentleman would yield.

Mr. WAXMAN. As the gentleman well knows, the decision is not up to one person; it will be up to the conferees. The conferees will have to be meeting with the Senate conferees and going over a number of positions. If this amendment is adopted by the House, it will be the House position as we go into conference. We will have to discuss it further, and then we will see what will be the result. But no guarantee can be made by me or any other Member at this time. There will be an opportunity, as you know, to instruct the conferees, which reinforces, of course, a particular part of the House bill.

Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I am honored to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone), the chairman of the Health Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, this bill reflects the input and the inspiration of two Kennedys in the Congress of the United States, certainly Senator Ted Kennedy, but also Patrick Kennedy, who has been such a leader in the areas of mental health and addiction. I yield to the gentleman from Rhode Island for a unanimous consent request. (Mr. KENNEDY asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 3962 and include extraneous material in the Record.

Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, at this point, I am greatly honored to yield 3 minutes to the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, one of the crafters of this bill and one of the great leaders in health care as well as other policy areas, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel). (Mr. RANGEL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California, Anna Eshoo.

Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to a member of our committee, the gentleman from New York, Eliot Engel.

Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to a member of our committee, the gentleman from Texas, Gene Green.

Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to a very active and important member of the Health Subcommittee and of the full Energy and Commerce Committee, my colleague from California, Lois Capps.

Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Doyle).

Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from the State of Washington, a very important member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Mr. Inslee.

Mr. WAXMAN. Congressman Inslee, you are correct. It's our intent that the patient would not be switched from a referenced product to a non- interchangeable biosimilar without approval from the doctor.

Mr. WAXMAN. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds. Our intent is also that a patient could not be financially induced by their plan to switch to a non-interchangeable biosimilar without the consent of their doctor, and I am happy to work with the gentleman to clarify the language in conference.

Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, at this time I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from the State of North Carolina, an important member of our committee, Mr. Butterfield.

Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield for the purpose of a colloquy to the chairman of the subcommittee, Mr. Pallone, 1 minute.

Mr. WAXMAN. I want to thank the gentleman from New Jersey for his leadership on the bill before us today and for his tireless efforts on behalf of low-income Americans who need long-term care. I support the elimination of barriers to the provision of home and community-based services under Medicaid, a result that the gentleman's Empowered at Home Act would achieve.

Mr. WAXMAN. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds. I will continue to work with you and other Members to enact legislation that gives State Medicaid programs a robust option for offering low-income Americans the choice of receiving long-term care services in the community rather than in a nursing home.

Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to a very important member of our committee, the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen).

Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky), a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, can I inquire how much time is available on each side?

Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Baldwin).

Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, at this time I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) for the purpose of a colloquy.

Mr. WAXMAN. The answer is yes.