Healthcare (Executive Session); Congressional Record Vol. 165, No. 93
(Senate - June 04, 2019)

Text available as:

Formatting necessary for an accurate reading of this text may be shown by tags (e.g., <DELETED> or <BOLD>) or may be missing from this TXT display. For complete and accurate display of this text, see the PDF.


[Page S3171]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Healthcare

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, I would like to take a minute to 
explain why Medicare for All is a prescription for Medicare for None. 
Some folks are pitching this wild, misguided idea that one-size-fits-
all government insurance is a cure-all for what ails the patients and 
the people of the United States of America. This conversation needs a 
strong dose of reality medicine.
  Let's look at what is really being proposed--Medicare for None. Here 
is what it would do. It would dump 181 million Americans off their 
private health insurance plans, double your income taxes, and put 
patients with preexisting conditions and chronic diseases on long 
waiting lists for medical care. It would unravel the current health 
safety net for seniors and people with disabilities, make the 
government the gatekeeper between Americans and their doctors, and, 
finally, put every single American who works for private health 
insurance out of business and out of a job.
  The politics behind the proposal is simple: free healthcare. Let me 
remind my fellow Americans that if it sounds too good to be true, it is 
too good to be true.
  Medicare for All is a catchy slogan. When you hear it on the campaign 
trail, remember it really boils down to government-run healthcare.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.