Senate Proceeding on Oct 29th, 2009 :: 1:09:35 to 1:24:15
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1:09:35 to 1:24:15( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Orrin Hatch

1:09:40 to 1:10:00( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: quorum call: mr. the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. hatch: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. hatch: mr. president, this health care debate is, to me, one of the most important debates we've ever had in this country. we are taking about one-sixth of the american economy. we better get it right because

1:10:01 to 1:10:21( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: if we don't, this economy will never be able to because if we go go down the withstanding pawrongpath, we'll never be able to change it. so this is a very, very important time, and i'm calling upon all of my colleagues, in both the senate and the house,

1:10:22 to 1:10:44( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: to try and work together so that we can come up with a program and a system that literally will work. we could build upon things that we alrea agree upon, things like preexisting conditions should be covered, automatically covered. now, that's a very difficult issue.

1:10:45 to 1:11:05( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: that's not something that you can just -- that you can just say glibly. the fact of the matter is that we've got to resolve this problem so that people will not just wait until they get sick so that they can buy insurance, because they have a right to do so under any new policy that we're coming up with, but they

1:11:06 to 1:11:26( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: should be able to get into the insurance market now. now, having said that, there are many onhe other side who would like to have what they call a public plan -- or what i call a government plan. the problem with the government plan is that the central force will be right here in washington filled with bureauccy, filled

1:11:27 to 1:11:47( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: with expenses, filled with all of the clogs that occur in washington, d.c., and we will not be solving the individual problems in the various states, all of whom -- or, each of whom, i should say, have their own demographics. i've often pointed out thought is not -- utah's demographics

1:11:48 to 1:12:09( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: are not the same as new york's or california's or massachusetts's. but neither are new york's the same as massachusetts or california's. each state has its own demographic problems. utah is considered one of the top three states in the delivery of health care. there's a good reason for that. and that is, we've thought it through and we basically bri health care closer to the people.

1:12:10 to 1:12:31( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: we already have an exchange in utah, which is working to a large degree. it's just starting, but the fact of the matter is it's been embraced and accepted by people. we would bitterly resent a one-size-fits-all felgt program to resolve all -- one-size-fits-all federal government program to resolve all problems.

1:12:32 to 1:12:52( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: and this business of making sure that preexisting conditions a covered is fraught with all kinds of difficulties if we don't do this right. all kinds of expenses if we fail to observe the past. and i might add, all kinds of bureaucratic problems if we don't work together to proble

1:12:53 to 1:13:13( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: on the other hand, are we going to go a system where government tells people they have to buy insurance? whether it be aublic plan or otherwise. i'm not sure constitutionally that the government has that kind of power. if the government has that kind of power to tell people that they have to have insurance,

1:13:14 to 1:13:36( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: even if they don't want it, and that includes a public plan insurance, then what limitations are there on government? what happens to all the freedoms that we all take for granted? what happens to the liberties that we have embedded in the constitution? these are important issues, and

1:13:37 to 1:13:59( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: they're not issues you just brush aside jt because one side or the other wants to have the federal government take control of our health care system. i might add that i think most of us agree that there should be transparency in this system. if we of the hospitals, all of the physicians, and we could tell

1:14:00 to 1:14:23( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: which ones are ones aren't, we could make our decisions about where to go for all times of cairks especially very serious care, i think all of us would like to provide a system where our constituents can do that. what about medical liability reform? as a former medical liability defense lawyer -- i defended

1:14:24 to 1:14:45( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: health defending, and many of whom did not commit negligence but were finding themselves suddenly in court in front of juries. estimated 25 years ago that in unnecessary defensive medicine,

1:14:46 to 1:15:07( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: we are probably wasting upwards of $300 billion a year. that sounds very high, but i'm finding more and more people are starting to come to the conclusion that we waste an awful lot of money on what really is unnecessary defensive medicine. we all want defensive medicine

1:15:08 to 1:15:30( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: to do what they really should do. and our advice to the doctors back in those days happened to be if somebody comes to you with really a common disease or injury, you can't afford to just give them, you know, to tell them to -- to just do the minimum.

1:15:31 to 1:15:52( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: you better have every test and every procedure that you possibly can in your history so that if you ever get sued be able to say you went way beyondhe standard of practice in your community and did everything you possibly could to try to help this person with their problems, and that you should not have liability because of that.

1:15:53 to 1:16:13( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: well, i have to say that we could go on and on. it was interesting to me when i first asked dr. elmendorf, who heads our congressional budget office -- what does unnecessary defensive medicine cost us, dr. elmendorf

1:16:14 to 1:16:36( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: came up with an extremely low figure over ten years. i think it was sething like $10 billion. and i chatted with him and said that can't be so, and i explained to him what my experience was and the experience of almost anybody who has any experience in this field. and he went back, he "well, i'm going to go back and review it."

1:16:37 to 1:16:57( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: he did go b he came up with the figure $54 billion over ten years just for government unnecessary defensive medicine. so it's much, much more than that if you add up everything else and extrapolate it all out. we should be able to of these dollars, and that also would help us to be able to pay for real health care that really

1:16:58 to 1:17:20( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: needs to be done. now, we know that the health care reform bill has been basically written in the office of the majority leader. and while we don't know what this bill will look like because it has apparently been written in the secrecy of the majority leader's office -- and by very

1:17:21 to 1:17:41( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: few people, by the way -- every indication is it will be the same bill reported out by the finance committee earlier this month. that bill will affect every person in america contains approximately $409 billion in new taxes that are all for the most part going to be passed on to the average taxpayer.

1:17:42 to 1:18:04( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: many utahans are asking who is going to have to pay these new taxes. unfortunately, i have to tell them that it will not just be the wealthiest middle- and lower-income americans as well. perhaps the most solid that president obama made during his campaign was -- quote -- "no

1:18:05 to 1:18:27( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: one making less than $250,000 will see any form of tax increase." that's what he said. "i can make a no family making less than $250,000 per year will see any form of tax increase." he further pledged that 98% of americans earning less than this amount will not see an in taxes.

1:18:49 to 1:19:09( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: my side of the aisle and support on his side seems to be waning. perhaps everyone knows the bill will break the president's promise not to force taxes on lower-income americans. the finance committee product offers a cornucopia of revenue raisers that would fund health care reform. some of these provisions include

1:19:10 to 1:19:31( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: direct taxes on lower- and middle-income wage earn erstwhile others would hit middle-class families indirectly. if your employer offers you a higher-cost insurance plan, your taxes will likely rise under this plan. if you have a flexible spending account or a account, your taxes will likely rise.

1:19:32 to 1:19:52( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: if you or your family use a medical device costing mor than $100 such as a hearing aid or insulator or if you purchase prescription drugs, the cost of these items will likely rise. ironically, a bill that is designed to lower the cost of health care, the cost of health insurance itself is likely to rise under this plan. and if you don't have insurance, the cost of not having insurance

1:19:53 to 1:20:14( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: will rise because the bill will impose a insurance. my friends on the other side of th this rise in penalties, fees, and higher costs as republican hocus-cus. but do not take it from me or my colleagues. take it from the nonpartisan congressional budget office and the joint committee on taxation. looking first at the direct

1:20:15 to 1:20:35( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: taxes on the middle class, the democrat bill declares war on savings accounts for health care. for example, the bill would limit the amount that employees can set aside of their own money into flexible spending accounts. in addition, over-the- countermedicine will no longer be qualified expenses for f.s.a. and health savings account

1:20:36 to 1:20:56( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: unless you have a doctor's note. the proposal includes an increase from 10% to 20% for the penalty for withdrawals that are not used for qualified medical expenses. all togher, this means employees could be facing a 5% federal tax on a bottle of aspirin. they tell me we're trying to make health care more affordable

1:20:57 to 1:21:18( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: and not more expensive. this year 35 million employees participated in employer-sponsored flexible spending accounts. these accounts provide relief for the ever-increasing amoun of health care that families must pay o pockets. how does cutting back on f.s.a. accounts lower the cost of health care? these accounts are not just provided to the wealthy.

1:21:19 to 1:21:39( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: on the contrary, the average income for flexible spending account participants is just $55,000 per year. another clear increase on taxes for middle-inme families is the raising of the threshold for the itemized medical expense deduction from 7.5% of adjusted gross income to 10%. this tax deduction is already

1:21:40 to 1:22:00( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: means-tested so that it only kicks in when medical expenses are catastrophic or nearly so. this is not a tax benefit for the wealthy. the joint committee on taxation estimates thatn approximately 11.5 million taxpayers would be affected by this proposal. of that number, about half have

1:22:01 to 1:22:22( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: incomes less than $75,000. perhaps even worse are the indirect tax increases in the bill. one of the most troubling ones to me is an unprecedented tpaoep levied on entire segnts of the health care industry, including pharmaceuticals, medical devices while by corporations, they will ultimately be passed on to consumers in the form of higher

1:22:23 to 1:22:43( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: prices or on to employees in the form of lower pay or even payoffs. under this plan, the cost of everytng from contact lenses to hearing aids to thermometers would rise for consumers, creating one more unfair burden on middle-income familie seeking affordable health care. and if you decide to either not have health insurance or if you need a more expensive plan than

1:22:44 to 1:23:05( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: is allowed, the democratic plan would raise taxes on you even if you do not make anywhere near $250,000 per year. this is part of the so-called individual mandate which requires individuals to obtain health care coverage or pay an extra tax. the amount of tax could reach as much as $750 per insured adult.

1:23:06 to 1:23:26( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: some may say this is simply a penalty for not doing what uncle sam wants to you do. but let's face it, it's nothing more than a new tax. mr. president, there are at least two provisions in the finance committee bill that raise serious constitutional questions. first is the transition relief for the high-cost insurance plans that is granted to 17

1:23:27 to 1:23:47( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: yet-to-be determined states. this means a different tax rate will apply depending on where you live. second is the individual mandate itself. the constutionality of the mandate as poied out by the congressional research service, has never been addressed. we are treadg into new waters. are we going to ignore these serious constitutional questions? again president obama promised

1:23:48 to 1:24:08( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: from the beginning that he would not raise taxes on the 98% of americans who make less than $250,000. unfortunately, the democratic proposal we will soon be debating would break that promise. we are all for real health care reform. everybody -- republicans, democrats, independents. but not all of us are willing to

1:24:09 to 1:24:15( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: tpas on the backs of middle-income at a time when we have $1 trillion-plus deficits and an