Washington, DC– Senators Jay Rockefeller, Sherrod Brown and Sheldon Whitehouse held a press conference today to call on Republican leadership to offer a real plan for reforming health care. While Democrats have been working tirelessly to reform our health insurance system in a thoughtful and meaningful way, Republican leadership has spent much of the last two months sabotaging bipartisan efforts to find agreement on key issues. The status quo is unacceptable and Republican stalling on health insurance reform only serves to obstruct, deny and delay for the millions of Americans who are waiting for Congress to act.
“I have been fighting for health care reform for over 40 years, and we’re long overdue for answers from the insurance industry,” said Senator Rockefeller. “American families need a health care bill that brings accountability and transparency to the insurance industry. It’s time for Members on both sides of the aisle to reject the status quo, stand up to special interests, and come together to achieve comprehensive health care reform.”
Said Senator Brown: “Health insurance reform means that all Americans will pay less for health care and be protected against insurance industry practices that limit care or pass along huge out-of-pocket costs to consumers. The status quo might be working for HMOs, but it’s not working for American families and businesses. The Republican leadership is standing between the American people and meaningful insurance reform. I hope they’ll work with us to pass reform that puts consumers first, not big insurance companies.”
“Reform of our broken health care system could be the most significant domestic policy achievement in a generation, one which will have tangible value to literally tens of millions of American families,” said Senator Whitehouse. “We will not squander this tremendous opportunity, and we will not be distracted by calls for delay.”
###
