When I was a teenager, I got a painful ear infection. We had no insurance. We had no money for a doctor's visit. Eventually, my natural immunity took over and I overcame the infection, but not before I lost partial hearing in that ear. It is amazing to me that a few dollars worth of antibiotics could have prevented permanent damage. But I got off easy.
Recently I met a 50 year old woman in Forest City. A few years ago, an insurance company denied her husband a $40,000 procedure that he needed to survive. Now she's a widow with two kids.
Thanks to the persistence and political courage of our president, stories like this should be over. It is a moral imperative to prevent 45,000 people from dying annually because they cannot get the health care they need.
Senator Grassley failed Iowa during the healthcare debate. Despite the efforts of President Obama to meet with Senator Grassley and keep in touch throughout the Senate's consideration of the reform, Senator Grassley abandoned all pretense of cooperation in August of 2009. He was on the committee of 6 Senators, 3 Democrats and 3 Republicans, assigned to work toward a bipartisan solution. However, he sent out a fundraising appeal stating, "The simple truth is that I am and always have been opposed to the Obama Administration's plans to nationalize health care." That same month, he made the absurd claim that the legislation would allow the government to "pull the plug on Grandma." Instead of helping us find common ground, Senator Grassley engaged in false statements and unproductive fear-mongering.
The health care reform bill is a good start. We now have the foundation of policy that puts people first, not the big insurance companies. We have assured that people are no longer denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. We have stopped insurance companies from canceling policies as soon as people get sick. Kids can stay on their parents' insurance policies until they are 26. The cap on the dollar amount of coverage has been removed.
Much remains to be done however. We must not allow insurance companies to avoid anti-trust laws. We must bring competition to the insurance industry by repealing the McCarran-Ferguson Act. Under our capitalist system, we recognize that competition is essential to keep costs down, and to encourage innovation. That is lacking in this industry which is inexplicably exempted from competition laws.
We can pay for these important advances in coverage in several ways. For example, reversing Senator Grassley's ban on allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices for seniors will add hundreds of billions of dollars to that program. As we change payment incentives from rewarding volume and complexity to rewarding quality and good outcomes, we will lower the costs of care exponentially. Another way in which we will be able to save on care is through the health and well being programs supported in the Reform Act. Helping people to develop good health habits, controlling obesity and high blood pressure and encouraging preventative care will cut costs dramatically.
Iowa health care providers deliver excellent care at a low cost, and as a result, we get one of the lowest reimbursement rates in the country. This chronic inequality, which seriously disadvantages Iowans and our doctors, was not addressed by Grassley in the 30 years he has spent in the U.S. Senate. The health care reform act, which Senator Grassley voted against, begins to address this serious problem. Remarkably, however, he has tried to take credit for this fix for Iowa health care providers, which he had ignored for three decades. He cannot fool Iowans by claiming credit for a long overdue reform which he opposed.
I'll keep fighting for access to quality, affordable health care for all Americans. We can build on the progress made this year and make sure these changes don't add to our deficit. Americans will come to appreciate the tremendous progress represented by the Health Reform Act.
