Opening Statement of Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI)
Hearing on Health Reform in the 21st Century:
Expanding Coverage, Improving Quality and Controlling Costs
March 11, 2009

(Remarks as Prepared)

Mr. Chairman, this is an important hearing following a historic meeting at the White House last week.  And, first, let me thank you for so readily turning over the microphone this time…If we can keep this up, then I think you were right: we will be a heck of team.

Too many families are struggling to pay for their health care.  Too many employers are being forced to reduce or eliminate coverage.  And, yes, too many Americans are un-insured.

These are facts we all agree on.  And, as I told the President last week, I think there is broad agreement on the principles of any successful health reform: lowering costs, increasing access, ensuring portability, and prevention and wellness, among others. 

The difficulty is determining how we get there.  That is why I want to begin my remarks by highlighting one fact: 61 percent of Americans less than 65 years-of-age have health insurance through their employer. 

Let me repeat that, 61 percent of Americans less than 65 years-of-age are covered through their jobs.

The reason I wanted to highlight the 61 percent number is for one very specific reason: it is clear the vast majority of American receive their health care through their job or other private means. 

Thus, the first principle we must follow in health care reform is protecting the coverage Americans already have; the coverage they receive through the workplace.

Increasing the government’s role in health care has a cost: for taxpayers and, as Mr. Pickering will testify, for employers providing coverage and the workers they cover. 

This government to employer and employee cost shift will eliminate the manner in which 120 million Americans receive their health care.  That runs the risk of violating the Hippocratic oath of “first do no harm.”

Sometimes on TV you will see an ad for some new medicine—the latest cure all.  As usual, at the very end of the commercial you hear what the side effects are: you hear mild nausea and think “okay.”  Occasional headache—might be worth it.  Fatal stroke—not a chance.

That, I fear, is exactly what some of the witnesses today are asking us to risk—a fatal stroke that will eliminate the ability of employers to offer affordable health care to their workers and their families.

Mr. Chairman, you well know that employers are already having enough difficulty maintaining coverage for their employees.  And, I think you would agree with me that they deserve commending for giving millions of Americans access to critical care. 

So, let’s not pull the rug out from under them and their employees.  Instead, let’s work together to make sure health care remains a benefit provided by employers while driving down the high costs of care that every American faces. 

With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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