Senate Proceeding on Nov 16th, 2009 :: 5:10:55 to 5:18:45
Total video length: 6 hours 18 minutes Stream Tools: Stream Overview | Edit Time

Note: MetaVid video transcripts may contain inaccuracies, help us build a more perfect archive

Views:15 Duration: 0:07:50 Discussion

Previous speech:

Next speech:

5:10:42 to 5:11:02( Edit History Discussion )

Sherrod Brown: uninsured at the moment. she has diabetes, incidentally, she told me she had medical issues, she couldn't see a doctor because she doesn't make enough money. that's the reality of life for a lot of hard-working people in illinois and ohio mr. brow thank you, assistant majority leader durbin. that story is so common.

5:10:55 to 5:18:45( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Sherrod Brown

5:11:03 to 5:11:23( Edit History Discussion )

Sherrod Brown: i was in a restaurant in columbus, had breakfast with my daughter one day, who lives there, and there was a young woman who waited on us, who is working probably about the same number of hours, waiting tables, doing a little better than that in terms of tutoring music students, she went to college, got a degree in music, and she hopes to turn that into a business, but nearly

5:11:24 to 5:11:44( Edit History Discussion )

Sherrod Brown: not enough money, not enough money combined -- she's making more money than medicaid, but e would get the she said, are you going to pass this bill? i said yes. are you going to have a public option? i said majority leader reid is putting a public option in the bill. the house passed a bill with the public option. i believe there will be a public option in this bill. again, as senator durbin said,

5:11:45 to 5:12:05( Edit History Discussion )

Sherrod Brown: the people will take their -- depending on thairn come, they will take their -- on their income, they will take their personal money adding with the help from the government to pay the premiums. let them decide for themselves. we don't want to tell them they have to go into a medicare-like public option or have to go to aetna, cigna or wellpoint or blue cross.

5:12:06 to 5:12:28( Edit History Discussion )

Sherrod Brown: give them that choice and they can compare on costs, they can compare on what kind of service they get, what kind of illnesses are covered. as senator durbin pointed out, one of the things with private health insurance is you know that a big part of their profits and their profits have gone up, a have their salaries for the top executives, you know a big part of the profits comes from

5:12:29 to 5:12:49( Edit History Discussion )

Sherrod Brown: hiring bureaucrats to deny care. they first -- they try not to insure you by invoking a preexisting condition, they hire a bunch of people to deny you even getting the insurance. and then if you're able to qual you don't have a p condition, then you get sick, then they hire a bunch of bureaucrats who process your

5:12:50 to 5:13:11( Edit History Discussion )

Sherrod Brown: claim, your -- and -- and man quip times turn you down. about one-third -- almost one-third of claims initially are turned down by an insurance company. more of them are accepted as you appeal, but, you know, take judy in marion, illinois, that you just talked about, if she were to have coverage with a private insurance company, you know how

5:13:12 to 5:13:32( Edit History Discussion )

Sherrod Brown: hard people who work in a waiting rooms -- waiting tables or working in rooms, maintenance who work there, that they're working so hard, they're very tired at the end of the day, as most americans are, they file a health care claim that's legitimate. the insurance company tells them no. then they've got to find a time during the work when the insurance

5:13:33 to 5:13:53( Edit History Discussion )

Sherrod Brown: mpanies lines are open, they've got to call and call and call. some of them call their congressmen on senator, which we try to hel people all the time push the insurance company. they'll talk to us. we're much more likely to be able to help them than they are when they call in. why should that be? why should they have to call their member of congress or call senator durbin or senator

5:13:54 to 5:14:14( Edit History Discussion )

Sherrod Brown: merkley or me to get help fighting an insurance company. when people are sick, the last thing the want to do is fight an insurance company to get reimbursed. we know what the president said during the 2008 presidential race about his own mother had to fight with insurance companies, it's simply not the kind of health care system -- and i met

5:14:15 to 5:14:36( Edit History Discussion )

Sherrod Brown: so many judy's from marion, illinois, and places like steubenville and lima and finley that worked so hard and can't get insurance and can't manage their care, can't manage their health. and you know people like that die younger than people that dress like this and have good insurance. you know people like that so

5:14:37 to 5:14:57( Edit History Discussion )

Sherrod Brown: often -- judy's not been able to take care of her diabetes. my son-in-law has diabetes, he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age that's about five years ago and he works for ohio state. he has a good health care plan. he takes really, really good care of himself. but he has the support of a

5:14:58 to 5:15:18( Edit History Discussion )

Sherrod Brown: health care system to do it. great public 4079s and private hospitals. there's so many that can't go to the hospitals unless they're so acutely sick, then they go to the emergency room. why do we want peep wl diabetes, asthma, or heart condition to wait until they're sick to go to the emergency room instead of managing their care.

5:15:19 to 5:15:39( Edit History Discussion )

Sherrod Brown: our health insurance company, as good as it is to so many people who have insurance, our health care system is the worst anywhere -- let me put it this way, mr. president, we have more people in the hospital who have chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease and asthma, conditions that you can manage outside a hospital at a much

5:15:40 to 5:16:00( Edit History Discussion )

Sherrod Brown: lower cost, in this country they're more likely to end up in a hospital than any other country in the world, and that's one of the things legislation will fix. let me share one last letter, mr. president, and i appreciate senator durbin joining us. deborah from columbia, just like martel -- marion, illinois, a

5:16:01 to 5:16:21( Edit History Discussion )

Sherrod Brown: small, rural county, had a lot youngstown. i'm a 56-year-old wife of a disabled retiree who has several chronic conditions, he suffers from heart condition, arthritis an three ruptured disks in his back. within one month of his retirement, the steel company he worked for filed for bank bankruptcy. this left us with a reduced

5:16:22 to 5:16:42( Edit History Discussion )

Sherrod Brown: monthly pension and the loss of all health care coverage. he worked we went without insurance from 2001 until he qualified for social security disability and medicare in 2008. i don't qualify for either social security or medicare. i've tried to get private health insurance but we can't afford

5:16:43 to 5:17:03( Edit History Discussion )

Sherrod Brown: the $2,400 to $3,000 a month for premiums. my question is this: in the health care reform will, there be a public option that doesn't disqualify me because of my preexisting condition? will i have to continue trying to purchase coverage from private insurance companies?" exactly what senator durbin said. this is -- you've -- you never hear of medicare denying somebody coverage because of a preexisting condition.

5:17:04 to 5:17:24( Edit History Discussion )

Sherrod Brown: you certainly hear it about -- about wellpoint. you certainly hear it about cigna. you certainly hear it about other private insurance companies. but you're never going to hear about the public option, once we enact it. it's part of u.s. law. you're never going to hear about the public option disqualifying people because of a preexisting condition. so what -- what deborah wants, what deborah needs is the choice.

5:17:25 to 5:17:46( Edit History Discussion )

Sherrod Brown: she can -- she can choose a private plan or she can choose the public option. but she can be assured that the public option won't disqualify her or her husband or anybody else for preexisting condition. she knows that even if she has to get -- if she gets really sick and s spends a lot of money in her health care at hospitals, for treatment, for doctors' visits, that she won't

5:17:47 to 5:18:07( Edit History Discussion )

Sherrod Brown: be cut off -- her insurance won't be cut off because her -- her care costs so much money. that's the beauty of the public option. it brings in competion, it keeps prices down and it protects the public from denied care because of illness or because of preexisting condition. mr. president, i -- in the next few weeks, senator -- senator reid has plans to bring this

5:18:08 to 5:18:28( Edit History Discussion )

Sherrod Brown: bill to the floor. we -- it will include a strong public option with a state opt-out, as senator durbin said, so if a state -- if, say, the senators from arkansas decide that -- or nebraska or wherever decide that this is -- this is not for my state, they can go and talk to their gorver and to their legislature and their legislature and they can opt out of it. the rest of -- i don't think

5:18:29 to 5:18:45( Edit History Discussion )

Sherrod Brown: very many states will because i think the plic option will matter for millions and millions of americans. i be of people in my state will decide they want be in the public option. but even if they don't, they'll understand, people know that their private insurance will be better, it will be quality at less cost because of