2013-05-19T00:09:13-04:00 Rep. John D. Dingell http://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/index.php?author=rep-john-d-dingell Copyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Rep. John D. Dingell Good old fashioned elbow grease. tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1818279 2012-08-21T11:14:41-04:00 2012-10-21T05:12:12-04:00

Rep. John D. Dingell http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-john-d-dingell/
Medicare is enormously successful. Prior to its enactment, approximately half of those over 65 did not have health insurance and far too many seniors were denied coverage or had their health care terminated simply because of their age. Medicare assured anyone over 65 they could see a doctor if they were sick.

Fast forward to 2011, when Congressman Paul Ryan became chairman of the House Budget Committee and he authored a draconian proposal that would gut programs that millions of hardworking Americans count on. Make no mistake, the Ryan budget ends Medicare as we know it. This is not hyperbole -- it is fact. Medicare would cease to be a single payer fee for service medical insurance program; instead, each senior would have to go fend for themselves on the open insurance market. Mr. Ryan would turn the program into a voucher system, with constantly shrinking benefits that would lead to an increase in senior healthcare costs by nearly $6,500 a year. Moreover, his plan would privatize Social Security, turning it into a Wall Street crapshoot.

The Romney-Ryan team are also very clear that repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is priority number one. Now, I had the honor of presiding over the passage of the ACA two years ago. Like Medicare when it was passed, this legislation will go a long way towards providing quality, affordable healthcare for all Americans, not just those lucky enough to get coverage from their employer, or privileged with enough means to purchase their own. But unlike Medicare, the Republican party refused to work toward a consensus package, and has vowed to repeal the ACA if Mitt Romney wins the presidency.

The Affordable Care Act ensures that 105 million Americans no longer have a lifetime limit on their health insurance, kids can stay on their parent's plan until they are 26, and millions of Americans will no longer be denied coverage for pre-existing conditions. It also expanded prescription drug benefits under Medicare Part D, as well as covering preventative care for seniors that wasn't entirely paid for. Those who argue that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan would leave current seniors and their benefits untouched ignore these simple facts.

Ironically, Republicans say they want to repeal this legislation because it cuts Medicare. Now, I am the first to admit there is waste and fraud in the Medicare -- a prime example is the excessive amounts Medicare was paying to insurance companies which offer Medicare Advantage plans. As an author of the Affordable Care Act, we got rid of this waste and used these carefully targeted savings to actually invest in our healthcare system, most notably to fill the prescription drug gap seniors face under Medicare Part D. In addition, the ACA also sets aside Medicare savings to give hardworking American families and children access to Medicaid or tax-credits to purchase private insurance. The Romney-Ryan Plan simply hands that money right over to the richest Americans at the expense of the middle-class in this country.

This debate isn't about a war of words and empty rhetoric between politicians of different parties. I remember the difficulty aging Americans had not only paying for health care, but even qualifying for it. Now, all Americans can count on health care security in retirement. We must stand up for that guarantee. It is about our promise to the American people that if they worked hard and played but the rules, they would have access to secure and healthy future.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1437710 2012-04-22T09:16:00-04:00 2012-06-22T05:12:02-04:00

Rep. John D. Dingell http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-john-d-dingell/
Since I was a boy, I have been in awe of Earth. I love the Great Outdoors and have been a conservationist since before it was popular. I have always cherished and fought to protect our glorious natural resources, and I am very proud of the role I played in many of our cornerstone environmental laws. When I first arrived in Congress, the United States had virtually no environmental protection statutes on the books. Businesses, governments, and individuals could spew unregulated pollution into the air and water or dump onto the ground virtually anything -- with impunity.

In the 1970s, we recognized that we owe it to future generations to protect the world, which is our only home. The laws we passed were not revolutionary, they were common sense, and were passed on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis. One could even say that these environmental laws were so important that they were, in fact, nonpartisan. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) passed the House with only 15 votes against it, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) with only four, and the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 with only 25.

Since passage of the original Clean Air Act, America's GDP has grown by more than 200 percent and even though four decades later these policies are still intact, we face challenges. Sadly, partisan bickering and partisan agendas threaten to return us to the sad times, when we were destroying our great natural treasures. We must not allow the weakening of some of our most fundamental environmental protections, including the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, NEPA, the ESA, and the Clean Water Act. We must fight against these challenges, and know these challenges hold the very real threat of rolling back years of progress. It is time to expand the public understanding that the health and future of our children and future generations depend on a clean, safe and secure environment.

Last Congress, we invested nearly $11 billion in Recovery Act funding for projects in restoring marine life, training for green jobs, and improving water quality. These investments launched a clean energy economy that will create millions of jobs that can't be outsourced, set up long-term ways to lower energy costs for American families and businesses, put us on a solid track to reduce our dangerous dependence on foreign oil, and improve standards to reduce the carbon emissions causing climate change.

We must strongly support advances in science and health that will protect our human environment and we must provide incentives for engineers and innovators of tomorrow to foster their ideas so America is making the commodities of the future. We in America must "out-innovate, out-educate, and out build" our global competitors.

We are at a vital point in history. We lead, but if we fail in our leadership, we will fall into the dustbins of history. America has always led the way on sound, balanced environmental laws that help the economy and encourage business to flourish that at the same time protect the air we breathe and water we drink. We cannot excuse failure to continue strong environmental policies that have and will continue to provide such great long-term economic benefits for Americans.

On this 42nd Earth Day, I challenge all Americans to demonstrate a commitment to protecting the air we all breathe, water we all drink, and the land we borrow to sustain us. I urge my colleagues in Congress to find common ground and work together so we can recommit ourselves to implementing policies which restore our ecosystems, reduce pollution, and meet our environmental challenges while strengthening and growing our economy. We have made great environmental gains during the past generation and are seeing attempts to dismantle that progress. Ultimately, we cannot look at persons in the other end of the boat and say pardon me, your end of the boat is sinking. As residents of the Earth, we are all in this boat, and we must lead the world in maintaining a vibrant, thriving and healthy ecosystem.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.1086080 2011-11-10T10:50:17-05:00 2012-01-10T05:12:01-05:00

Rep. John D. Dingell http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-john-d-dingell/ We Marched With Martin" commemoration after the memorial dedication organized by the Drum Major Institute, the think tank established to help Dr. King in 1961. We compared the Civil Rights movement with what we see happening today in the streets of our country, and in the corridors of power, and what lesson today's Americans might draw from the events we witnessed a half-century ago, we found the comparison enlightening.

Our country has traversed many different grounds on civil justice beginning with slavery and the Reconstruction. It followed on with the loss of the right to vote and the Constitutional rights given to citizens in the post-Civil war era. The interesting thing to note is that since that time we began to hear the term social justice. If you follow Dr. King, you will see that he was talking about more than just the right to vote, own property, or to have the full citizenship rights. He was talking about much more but because the issue was so controversial at that time, he is largely remembered for leading minorities and all Americans out of that wilderness into a place where we have a fair measure of social justice of which we can be proud.

Similar to the "Occupy" movement today, there was a general feeling in the Civil Rights movement that there were few the movement felt it could trust. They didn't want someone monopolizing the leadership, using it for their own purposes, using it to promote their own ego, or co-opting it for the very power-structure and institutionalized unfairness that they opposed. The Civil Rights movement then, like Occupy, lacked -- and was criticized for lacking -- clear policies, strategies, or leadership. The movement had to undergo a rough growth process of discussing issues, defining a coherent purpose, debating achievable solutions, and eventually, the core concerns, strategies, agendas, and leaders would emerge.

Martin Luther King was a man who possessed unique gifts, the most important being his ability to earn the trust of those who listened to him. Franklin Delano Roosevelt also could do this, they gave the people a belief that their leadership could be trusted, and that with leadership, we could come together and accomplish anything. Trust is the crucial ingredient of a successful movement, but it is also the essential element of a successful society and a viable economy. And now, 50 years after Dr. King, we can clearly see the wisdom of what he preached, that the rich should not continue getting richer while the poor are getting poorer. Many believe that our economic system is based on money, but it is not; trust plays an even more fundamental role. People need to have confidence in each other in order to comfortably enter into contracts, to trade, lend, and invest.

What has frustrated Americans, and is motivating so many to take to the streets today, is that the trust of our complex society and economy has been breached significantly. Those institutions in which we have placed trust -- those banks who channel trillions of dollars through our financial system's arteries every day -- put the entire global economy at risk by placing risky bets with other people's money, and then turned to our political leaders and asked for trillions of dollars to bail them out. When ordinary Americans across the country are losing their homes, their businesses, and their jobs ask these same banks to lend them money to help stay afloat, they are often ignored in a shabby fashion. Now, Americans are taking to the streets demanding that their elected officials listen and that beneficiaries of the financial system play fair. Again they feel ignored and view the system more interested in the supplications of those who finance campaigns. Where has the trust gone? It is hard to understand why so many on Wall Street and in Washington believe they don't need to earn the people's trust. Do they not understand that without trust all our institutions will fall?

America must return to the vision of Dr. King, recognizing that our economic, political, and social systems are inter-dependent, that our civil, political, and economic rights along with a sense of justice are crucial ingredients in a fair and functioning society. We ultimately cannot prosper alone. Either we all prosper together, or we do not prosper at all. We restore our tattered economic confidence by restoring social trust and political responsibility. If our leaders in Washington and on Wall Street do not soon hear the call for justice soon, the crowds in the streets will grow and they will overcome.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.934149 2011-08-23T13:14:21-04:00 2011-10-24T05:12:01-04:00

Rep. John D. Dingell http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-john-d-dingell/
While this committee works against its November 23 deadline, we must keep our nation's priorities in mind. We must continue to protect this country. We must not permit the middle class to shoulder the entire burden of balancing our nation's budget. Most Americans agree that any budget deficit reduction plan must include revenue increases; however, any revenue increases must elicit contributions from all Americans regardless of income. We need to make tough choices, but this cannot be accomplished without shared sacrifice. This will require lengthy and thorough dialogue between all parties, where will we need to come together and put the good of the American people above all other interests.

I will not vote for any measure this committee makes without a clear demonstration that it involves shared sacrifice by all. I cannot vote for a budget that decimates the programs that middle class Americans rely on, when Wall Street is still getting billions in unjustified tax breaks. I understand that certain aspects of our social entitlement programs must be adjusted to ensure solvency for future generations, and the passage of the health care reform act was the first step in that process. But we still need to recognize that with a still sputtering economy, these programs are more important than ever, and serve as a tremendous help to families nationwide.

Now with this historic debt deal in place, it is time to turn the page and focus on the real problems facing Americans, namely jobs. Nothing should be more important than creating jobs in America. With a national unemployment rate of 9.2% and an unemployment rate of 10.5% in Michigan, creating jobs has to be policy makers' number one priority. Congress must not stop focusing on job creation to instead only concentrate on the budget deficit detour while countless Americans are looking for work. This is not going to be an easy task, but I am fully committed to doing everything I can to help Americans find employment and ensuring the financial security of their families over the years to come.

We as politicians cannot be distracted from job creation for the sake of political gamesmanship at the cost of the American taxpayer. I will not fall victim to this, and I call on my colleagues in Congress to do the same.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.888930 2011-07-01T16:14:08-04:00 2011-08-31T05:12:01-04:00

Rep. John D. Dingell http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-john-d-dingell/
For all the political difficulty and long journey the Medicare program has endured, it stands as the most significant piece of social legislation written in our nation's history. Its launch 45 years ago immediately satisfied millions of Americans who were in desperate need of health coverage, especially for the elderly and disabled, and throughout its life, the program has continued to improve and today delivers quality care with remarkably low administrative costs -- much lower than those from private insurers.

Before Medicare, for many Americans, getting old meant bearing the hurt of not treating an illness or injury or being impoverished. Our nation drastically improved when I stood with President Johnson on stage in Independence, Missouri; I watched his signature rewrite the ending chapters for our nation's elderly; adding years to their lives, but also adding dignity too. Since its launch in 1966, Medicare has bestowed relentless compassion on our aging society.

Captivated by the wisdom of the architects of Medicare -- including my dad -- Congress has built on their work and has kept the program working for the American people. Today, Medicare provides over 47 million Americans with dependable medical insurance, prescription drug coverage, and is the largest health care provider in our nation. These vital safety nets critically support struggling retirees and those coping with sickness or injury.

Today, Medicare faces a new challenge. Four and a half decades of hard work could be shattered by the House Republican budget proposal for fiscal year 2012, which ends Medicare as we know it. First, it would drastically eliminate Medicare benefits and shift costs to seniors and individuals with disabilities. Second, in ten years, seniors who become eligible for Medicare would receive a federal contribution or 'voucher', based on income, to purchase health insurance coverage in the private market rather than receive insurance directly through Medicare. The Congressional Budget Office projects that this change will immediately increase out-of-pocket expenses for seniors by more than $6,000 each and increase to more than $12,000 in 2032. Third, the Republican proposal will increase the eligibility age for Medicare. Thus, the millions of Americans who have made their retirement plans with Medicare in mind would have to wait an extra two years. For the Republicans to say they are reforming Medicare, not ending it, is like putting feathers on a fish and trying to say it is a duck; you aren't fooling this poor Polish lawyer into believing it is the same program. Republicans can call it what they want, but their plan is not the dependable Medicare program that Americans can come to trust and rely on -- instead it throws Medicare beneficiaries into the mercy of the insurance plans.

I recognize that as our senior population increases, revisions to Medicare are needed to control costs; however, ending Medicare is not the solution. Instead, we must crack down on waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare; we must work to limit procedures that are proven to have little or no medical benefits and find efficiencies in the system through coordinating care; and Medicare must limit duplicative services and stop overpayments to private Medicare plans.

We must lift the burden and enhance Medicare, not break it. I will not let Republican renegades tear down a program that for 45 years has served our nation's sick and elderly very well, fulfilling our moral obligation to those most in need.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2010:/theblog//3.734046 2010-09-22T08:45:38-04:00 2011-05-25T17:45:25-04:00

Rep. John D. Dingell http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-john-d-dingell/

• Can't drop your coverage when you get sick;


• Can't discriminate against kids with pre-existing conditions;


• Will begin allowing young adults to stay on their parents' plans up to age 26;


• Must end lifetime limits on coverage and face restricted annual limits;


• Provide in new plans free preventive care like mammograms and immunizations;


• Allow in new plans for a better appeals process on claims;


• Will give enrollees in new plans the right to choose their own doctor.

These are all important modifications that will increase the quality of health care for millions of Americans. Notice what has happened with Medicare Advantage plans because of health reform -- a new Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) report shows in 2011 the cost of those plans will drop while the services offered will improve. As we see the benefits of reform already helping people's physical and economic well-being, there is another, less obvious part of the new law that will also reduce our budget deficit and save Americans billions of dollars: an unprecedented effort to crack down on waste, fraud and abuse.

A Thomson Reuters study estimates the U.S. health care system wastes around $700 billion a year. Fraud and abuse account one-fifth, between $125-$175 billion of that waste. Criminals who raid these programs, not only steal from taxpayers, but they do so at the expense of American seniors and families.

A crackdown on the scoundrels behind Medicare and Medicaid fraud will help cover the costs of health reform, allowing us to keep the services so many American rely on AND reduce the deficit. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that every $1 invested to fight fraud yields approximately $1.75 in savings.

Today, the Health Subcommittee of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, on which I serve, will hear from representatives from Health and Human Services (HHS) and CMS on cutting waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid. Their work is critical to both health reform and the future of the U.S. economy. And the new health care reform law will help us catch crooks with more than 30 new provisions to boost the efforts of CMS, Health and Human Services' Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and the Justice Department. I've worked for years to help investigators in their work. Now, we have a law with teeth and it might scare some bad actors from trying to rob elderly and impoverished Americans.

These reforms include a tactical shift by law enforcement. Right now, pursuit of the perpetrators begins only after the check has gone out, known as "pay and chase." The new law is designed to keep con artists out of the program before they ever get in. By utilizing enhanced background checks for providers, new disclosure requirements and on-site visits, our watch dogs will catch many phonies before the scam ever starts. The new law also requires:

• Stronger rules and sentences for people who commit healthcare fraud;


• Better screening tools to prevent fraud from happening;


• Requirements for providers and suppliers to establish plans on how they will prevent fraud; and


• Enhanced data collection that allows CMS, DOJ, states and other federal health care programs to share information.

Putting muscle behind our top cops does work -- and Southeast Michigan is proof. This July, the work of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force led to the arrests of 94 people who defrauded the Medicare system. Two of these scam artists were from Detroit and were convicted in a $2.3 million fraud scheme. These people not only broke the law, but they took advantage of the most vulnerable members of our society -- the elderly and poor -- and harmed the programs that are vital to our community.

We have always said an overwhelming majority of Americans citizens will benefit from health care reform, but these reforms will hurt one sector -- crooks and cons. The time for exploiting our system is over. ]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2010:/theblog//3.511444 2010-03-24T11:37:58-04:00 2011-05-25T15:55:20-04:00

Rep. John D. Dingell http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-john-d-dingell/ pathetic attempt to destroy the historic step taken yesterday for our country. During an interview on Paul W. Smith's show, I said:

"The harsh fact of the matter is when you're going to pass legislation that will cover 300 [million] American people in different ways it takes a long time to do the necessary administrative steps that have to be taken to put the legislation together to control the people."

If one were to listen to the entire interview, and not just a clip creatively chopped up for political gain, it is obvious that by 'people' I was referring to the insurance companies who we must do a better job of overseeing. Specifically, we are going to end the deplorable practices of those who rescind the health insurance policies of people on gurneys heading into emergency rooms.

We have a lot of work ahead of us to bring the insurance companies in-line with the new law and to ensure that they are doing what's right for the American people. It will take time to make sure the system designed to make sure the companies are accountable is up and working as it should be - for the benefit the citizens of the United States of America, not to control them.

The bill signed into law Tuesday by President Obama is a tremendous step forward for the United States and its citizens. This legislation will slow the growth of out-of-control health costs, introduce competition into the health care marketplace to keep coverage affordable and insurers honest, protect people's choices of doctors and health plans, and ensure all Americans have access to quality, stable, affordable health care. Our families, small businesses, and seniors will feel positive effects of reform immediately and building until 2014.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2009:/theblog//3.223374 2009-07-01T09:44:00-04:00 2011-05-25T13:30:21-04:00

Rep. John D. Dingell http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-john-d-dingell/
By now, though, Medicare has proven to be one of the most efficient ways of collecting and dispensing health care payments. It has meant peace of mind for generations of senior citizens and a boost to American industry, especially in the form of the wrap-around plans that have reduced health care costs for companies while actually increasing quality of care.

Today, Congress is debating the most significant reform to our health care system since Medicare. In fact, parts of Medicare itself may change -- which will give friends of the current broken status quo an array of scare tactics they can use to oppose health care reform as a whole.

The truth, though, is that doing nothing is no longer an option. Spiraling health care costs threaten to bankrupt our country and damage the well being of all Americans. Since 2000, family premiums have more than doubled, while wages have remained stagnant; just last year, employees' out-of-pocket health care costs were up more than 10%. Medicare shares the burden of those fast-rising costs; in fact, its current course is unsustainable, with its trust fund set to be exhausted in as little as eight years. For that reason alone, Medicare reform should go hand-in-hand with reform to bring affordable care to all Americans.

To save Medicare, we must make it more efficient -- but we also have to preserve what has made it so valuable for millions. Democrats are dedicated to protecting and improving Medicare, ensuring that all seniors have access to low-cost prescription drugs, improving low-income subsidy programs to make sure that Medicare is affordable to all, ending wasteful overpayments, and adding new consumer protections to private Medicare Advantage plans.

For years, physicians have treated aging patients as they've transitioned from private insurance to Medicare -- one of the services that make so many doctors pillars of their communities. But doctors also need new incentives to continue treating Medicare patients, which is why we're committed to improving payment rates for family doctors and other primary care physicians. We also want to eliminate the 21 percent cut in doctors' fees that is scheduled for 2011.

As we improve Medicare, we can also recognize that it has a lot to teach us about bringing quality care to millions of Americans. Those lessons will be vital to the health care reform debate. They include the importance of rewarding coordinated care, the harms of inaccurate payments and overpayments to private plans, and the need to make critical delivery system reforms to the way doctors are reimbursed. We have also learned that the fee-for-service system -- in which doctors are paid for procedures instead of health outcomes -- creates greater potential for fraud and abuse. Health care reform should tackle all of those challenges, while rewarding providers who give coordinated, quality care to patients at reasonable costs, with lower readmission rates.

This anniversary is a time to celebrate Medicare's many successes -- successes so many Americans have seen firsthand, in the lives of seniors who have received guaranteed, dignified health treatment. As far as we're concerned, that is something every American deserves. But preserving Medicare's success, and fixing our health care system as a whole, means that we need to face up to some urgent changes. With the largest generation of Americans set to retire, health care costs are set to skyrocket even further; without change, those costs are on pace to exceed the GDP of our entire country.

But now, while we can see that calamity coming, we have a chance to avert it. This summer, we have an opportunity to build a health care system worthy of all Americans. Doubters will tell us that it can't be done. But that's the same thing they said 44 years ago.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2009:/theblog//3.165823 2009-02-11T05:55:25-05:00 2011-05-25T13:05:20-04:00

Rep. John D. Dingell http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-john-d-dingell/
Our current system is failing the patients. People are having to choose between feeding their families, paying their bills, or filling their prescriptions. Copays and other fees are so high that even people with health insurance are opting not to see a physician. Further, the most simple, cost-effective, and efficient medical procedures, such as check-ups, physicals, and other preventative measures, are being forgone for more expensive, reactive treatments.

For years, people made the case against a heath care overhaul, claiming it would ration medical care. I would say that because of our failure to act, that is what we now have. Instead of taking care of our people, the best health care goes to those who can afford to pay for it.

Health care providers themselves are unable to navigate the inefficiency of our health care system. Primary care doctors, our first line of defense and the physicians most likely to serve underserved populations, can no longer maintain their practices. They can't keep up with payroll because of slow turn around on constantly shrinking reimbursements. We are driving doctors running small family practices into merging with mega-offices, where patients do not experience the kind of personal, quality care Americans need.

Our failing health care system is also hurting our businesses and industries. Everyday, our businesses are forced to choose between providing much needed health care for their employees or surviving to see another quarter. Many years ago, my father and Walter Reuther used to discuss how health care would eventually break the back of our industries. Our current system has placed American businesses at a competitive disadvantage in the world market. I see it nearly every day in Michigan with our automakers, which need a leveled playing field to compete with automakers in countries with national health care. In a time of such severe economic crisis, we simply cannot afford to let our companies fail under the weight of our inaction.

Our states are struggling under the weight of increasing unemployment and health care costs. States, which spend over 20 percent of their budgets on health care, are seeing 1.1 million new enrollees in Medicaid for every one percent increase in unemployment. Many of those newly unemployed do not consider COBRA a viable option. As Families USA recently reported, COBRA coverage would consume nearly 84 percent of family unemployment benefits - a price that is too great for many families to even consider. So, those people are forced to go without medical insurance. At a time when people need it most, the 45 million people without insurance--more than combined populations of California and Connecticut--are racking up debt at an even greater rate. In fact, medical debt has been cited as a factor in half of the home foreclosures wreaking havoc on our financial system.

With our economy under strain, our patients, businesses, and states suffering, it is apparent that we need to act now to reform the health care system that hemorrhages money to stabilize our economy. Right now, health care spending is 16 percent of GDP, or $2.3 trillion, and is growing at a staggering rate. Health care costs have been cited by the Congressional Budget Office as the most important factor in achieving long term fiscal balance.

If we are to succeed in making the necessary changes to reform our health care system, we must begin the process immediately. I know of which I speak, as I served as Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce during our last major push to reform health care in 1994. Too much time passed between a superb February 1993 speech by President Clinton, which won the solid support of the Nation, and the time the legislation arrived in Congress. Inertia stalled, and it became too easy for critics to derail the process. Special interests also commandeered the discussion, pouring as much as $500 million into lobbying against reform.

We cannot allow, nor afford, that to happen again. Our current financial stability and the health of future generations rests in our willingness to take action. We need a system that would lower costs and increase quality of health care, while making it universally available.

I know that Congress has the ability and the ingenuity to create a new approach to health care, however, it is clear that we must not let our window of opportunity go by. We must put forth a plan that will provide the American people with security and the flexibility to choose what's best for themselves and their families. However, for this to work, emphasis must also be put on ensuring that universal coverage truly is universal in that it covers those that are healthy and those that are sick. Congress must guarantee that health insurance does not exclude pre-existing conditions or limit care for families buying their own insurance. For these families and small businesses, we must also increase competition in the insurance market so that affordable options are available. Congress will have to be vigilant in its oversight, to ensure federal dollars that are being spent on health care are being spent wisely, and not simply to line the pockets of corporate executives and insurers.

As we move towards national coverage, we have to ensure that we have the public health infrastructure necessary to support additional patients. This includes addressing education and training of the next generation of health professionals, new investment into research and development for cures to chronic and debilitating diseases, disease management programs to improve outcomes, and improving access to school-based health care and support services.

These are lofty goals; however, they are also achievable goals. I firmly believe that if Congress ensures that everyone is invested, that means individuals, small and large employers, providers, insurers, state and federal governments, we can deliver a health care reform bill to President Obama by the end of the year. Through collaborative thinking and collective action, we can and we will put together a good, bipartisan bill that will ensure the working men and women in this country will never have to worry about access to health care. [You can read my letter to President Obama here (pdf).]

I know that this requires much work on my part, and for those that know me well, you know I never back away from a challenge. For more than 50 years, I have fought for universal coverage, and there has been no better opportunity than now. I will not let this window slip by, and I urge my friends, my colleagues, and the American people to join with me in making 2009 the year major health care reform legislation is delivered to the Oval Office.]]>