Senate Proceeding on Oct 14th, 2009 :: 0:41:30 to 0:44:30
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0:41:27 to 0:41:48( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Harkin: one way or the precious little to keep you healthy in the first place. as one of the comedians on one of these late-night talk shows i happened to tune into one night said they're talking about everything except health what do we need to do to keep people healthy in e first place?

0:41:30 to 0:44:30( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Tom Harkin

0:41:49 to 0:42:10( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Harkin: well, quite fra our bill. that's what i wanted to discuss this morning, is i discuss some of the aspects of the -- of the bill that i believe will really bend the cost curve in the future and make us a genuine wellness society.

0:42:11 to 0:42:32( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Harkin: the bill that we reported out of our "help" committee creates a sharp new emphasis on fitness, physical activity, good nutrition, disease prevention. in short, just keeping people out of the hospital in the first place. this will give americans access to a 21st century true health care system, preventing disease, helping us live healthy, active,

0:42:33 to 0:42:54( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Harkin: productive lives, and it will reduce wasteful, avoidable costs that are built into our current system. again, this sort of disease management approach that we have in our country now is just about patching things up after people develop a serious illness or chronic condition. it's a system that overspends

0:42:55 to 0:43:16( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Harkin: which we know and underperforms. it has been a colossal, expensive failure. we can and must do better. as president obama said in his speech to congress back in february, he said -- quote -- it's time to make the largest investment ever in preventative care because that's one of the best ways to keep our people healthy and keep our costs under

0:43:17 to 0:43:39( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Harkin: control. well, mr. president, to most of us, it's selfevident that cost-effective preventative services will save money in the long term. and this f a poll taken. 76% of the american people said we should invest more in

0:43:40 to 0:44:01( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Harkin: preventative care. 76%. they get it. the american people get it. and this support the political spectrum. 86% of democrats, 71% of republicans, 70% of independents say we should be spending more on is next chart shows that 77%

0:44:02 to 0:44:24( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Harkin: of americans support a new emphasis on prention in a health care reform bill because they know it's the right thing to do. it's just common sense. if we can use cost-effective screenings, other up-front intervention programs to prevent tens of millions of occurrences of chronic diseases, such as

0:44:25 to 0:44:32( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Harkin: cancer and diabetes, cardiovascular disease, we're going to slash health care