And im glad that i was put in the middle of this because for everything that something good comes of it and that is why im here today. As a Small Business i insured my family and my two employees and i had wonderful insurance. I was pleased with it. It was a Small Business plan and i might tell you a little fact now that you will find surprising. In 2008, just as you said, those premiums raised ridiculous amounts every year. One year was 26 for this great Insurance Plan. I was in sticker shock. It got to the point in 2008 that each individual in my Small Business plan to have a fully comprehensive plan would have cost 859. These are 2008. I did the math and i said, i cant possibly afford this so i contacted my Insurance Broker and i said what are my options . He mentioned the consumerdriven health plans. Not very familiar with it, a little bit leery about the concept, i explored it. It took me two years to sign on however. What i did in those 2008 without the Affordable Care act legisl
Care system that needed to be reformed. The fact is america had an imperfect system developed with a number of public and private forms of money, tremendous , and the like. Crashing it into a wall is not a fixed system. With that, i recognize the gentleman from maryland for his Opening Statement. Thank you for calling this hearing. This week, i had the tremendous honor and privilege of traveling to south africa. As part of our nations delegation to honor the life of the late president Nelson Mandela. It was an inspirational trip, life altering because i have the opportunity to reflect on the amazing changes that one individual, working with determination over a lifetime, can bring to millions of others. There will always be forces aligned against progress, against quality, against basic human dignity. But Nelson Mandelas life reminds us that our mission on earth is to transcend these district to forces and always pursue the betterment of our fellow man. Atraveled back yesterday on 20 h
Postnafta we were doing a tremendous job making something together. We were making pork chops together, but country of origin labeling and impact on livestock trade has dramatically decimated that. Efforts in congress to introduce renewable or a clean energy standard, none of them have passed, not scott mentioned earlier the northsouth flow of the electric grid. But despite that the existence of the grid and existence of the l. Actress degrade trade, the proposals for renewable and clean and g. Standards all would have differentiated between imported and domestic electricity and not given them the same treatment. So a while theres a lot of hope, im wondering how you propose to tackle that . Well, and ill channel Alexander Hamilton and recommend energy to the executive. I think to the extent the president and his administration has an ambitious, active agenda. Congress has a lot less time for mischief and have to deal with so i would encourage the. I think that now is the president push
Any thoughts on the future of Child Advocacy . I was one of the people who started the childrens act here in washington, d. C. I know the impact that it has, positive impact it has on child victims of crime or the decision to eliminate this funding was a difficult one. Deficit issues, restoring fiscal sustainability were all the consideration. The office of Justice Programs as i talk to them after i spoke to you has come up with ways in which they think they can prioritize some grantmaking and training to help in that regard. But im just going, i think that if we look at the budget for the next year, that given what we get from the Advocacy Centers and the relatively small amount that is involved, that this has to be a part of the, you know, im not satisfied with where we are now with what i think that was a mistake. I certainly look forward to working with you as a member of the budget committee. I think all of us to recognize that we have forced far too many of the cuts weve made in
Your desk in your new office because americans will be watching to see if you follow through on that it promise. I also would like to follow up on senator frankens question. I think there was something there that didnt quite get answered. As you know, congressman, the one goal of the Affordable Care act was to push the Health Care Industry to provide Higher Quality care at lower costs. And under the aca, medicare was recently allowed to change the way that it pays hospitals for hip and Knee Replacements to a bundle. That means medicare pays a set price for the care associated with hip and Knee Replacement and then the hospitals, not congress, will decides the most effective implants, how to spend their money to deliver Better Service at higher cost. I supported this change because the Research Shows it really means you get better care at lower prices. But i know the policy is controversial because it affects how hospitals are paid, which in turn, affects how much money the manufacturer