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WASHINGTON— Today, US Senator Bill Cassidy, MD (R-LA) spoke on the Senate floor regarding the refusal of Democrats to engage in health care discussions and about families who can’t afford their rising health care premiums becoming “collateral damage.”
In his speech, Cassidy said:
“The Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer, condemned our bill before we filed it, meaning before he had a chance to read it. Without reading our bill, he condemned it even though his state, New York, would have been allowed to continue in the program that they are currently in and receive the dollars to support that program. Condemn the bill before he read it even though it would have allowed his state to continue in the status quo.
“Similarly we approached—many other senators in that same regard—ten at least on my part—and none would help us with our bill even though their state could have continued in its current status quo, receiving the income it currently receives. So that tells me even a good-faith effort to reach across the aisle was not going to get cooperation. That’s too bad…I say that as an observation, not as a criticism, but also an explanation to the American people how we’ve ended up in this position.
“But I’m a physician, doctor, who worked in a public hospital for the uninsured for decades before I went into politics and I guess from my perspective the primary thing is not Republican versus Democrat but that patient—that patient who struggling to pay her bills, her premiums, the fella who can’t afford the medicine. What are we doing for them?”
To watch the full speech, click here. |
