Election 2004 Senator Kerry Speech

Remarks by Senator John Kerry on Affordable Health Care for All Americans

As Prepared for Delivery

May 10, 2004

Edinboro University

I want to start by thanking all of you who are studying to become nurses here at Edinboro.� America needs you.� And when the hours get long and the work gets tough, just remember � you will spend your days bringing comfort to the sick and healing to the ill, and there are few callings greater than that.�

A nurse has one of the most difficult jobs in the world.� On an average day a nurse has put up with a stubborn bureaucracy, inefficiency in the system and an uncaring administration�sounds a lot like Washington!

You are about to join a profession that delivers the best care in the world.�

But you are about to join at a time when the cost of receiving that care has never been more expensive for the hardworking families who need it.

Well I�m here to tell you we can do something about that.� Our health care system is badly broken.� And I have a health care plan that covers 96% of all Americans.� But today, I want to focus on the part of my plan that deals with the most serious part of the health care crisis � costs.� It�s a plan that will cut soaring premiums, cut the waste, cut the greed, and cut Americans a break.� And it�s a plan that finally makes our health care affordable, our businesses more competitive, and America stronger.�

Today, regular check-ups are emptying family checkbooks.� Waiting for a doctor�s bill is causing as much anxiety as waiting for a diagnosis.� And cutting through endless red tape and paperwork is wasting millions that could be spent on better care.�

Here in the Erie area, you�re seeing plants close down that provided good jobs and quality health care to their employees for years.� A lot of these jobs have moved overseas, where the cost of health care isn�t nearly as high.� And for the companies that stay, the price of health care is rising too fast for folks to afford.

I just met with Albert Barker.� Albert is sixty-one years old, and he used to work at Custom Engineering right over in Erie.� A little while back, Albert had a heart attack.� After he recovered and returned to work, Albert�s employer told him he couldn�t afford to provide insurance anymore.� They re-hired him as a temporary worker, and Albert was then forced to pay $290 a month for temporary coverage.� Just this month, that coverage ran out.�

His wife Roseanne said �I never dreamed things could be like this.� Al�s worked his entire life.� Now we just pray every day that nothing goes wrong.�

No one should have to live in fear that they are one doctor�s visit away from financial ruin.� And when I am President, no one will.�

Since I began this journey over a year ago, I have met too many people like the Barkers.� Hardworking families struggling under the weight of their medical bills.� Business owners who aren�t hiring because they can�t afford to cover more employees.� Veterans whose co-payments are putting health care out of reach.���

I remember Virginia Noble.� Virginia has cut every cost and saved every penny, but she still cannot afford to insure the eleven employees who work in her Des Moines sandwich shop.� She wonders how long her small shop can stay competitive, but more importantly, she worries about the health of the eleven people who�ve helped make it a success.� Small business owners like Virginia create the jobs that make America strong, and I�ll be a President who does everything I can to make that job easier.�

I remember Myrtle Walck.� During a town hall in Iowa, she told us how every month, she has to sign her $400 Social Security check over to her local drugstore just to cover the cost of two daily prescriptions.� At 82 years old, she�s losing her only source of income to two bottles of pills.� Myrtle still gives her best to her country by teaching kids how to read at a local school each week.� Is this the best her country can give to her?

This is not acceptable in America.

It�s not acceptable to do nothing about total family premiums rising more than $2700 in just four years

It�s not acceptable to do nothing while these premiums are rising four times faster than workers� earnings.

And it�s not acceptable to do nothing while families lose their savings, workers lose their jobs, and businesses close their doors because of the high cost of health care.

We need a President who knows our health care crisis isn�t acceptable and who has a plan to fix it.� And that�s the kind of President I will be.

For anyone who thinks this is acceptable, another four years of this Administration is just what the doctor ordered.� For four years, they haven�t made a dent in the cost of health care.� For four years, they haven�t even tried.� They�ve stood by while insurance companies made record profits and families faced record-high premiums.� And while he�s campaigning across the country, you almost never hear the words �health care� come out of the President�s mouth.

Through their words and their actions, the Bush Administration has showed that they do not consider the high cost of health care a serious problem.� I do.� I still see the faces.� I still remember their stories.� And I have a plan to do something about it.

Now, since my wife has begged me not to bore you with the details of the plan, I�m going to ask all of you to visit www.johnkerry.com to find out exactly how we�re going to get this done.� But since I also have a reputation to uphold, I�m going to talk a little bit about it today, too.�

Here�s what I will do to control rising health care costs:���

First, we�re going to cut your family�s premiums by up to $1000.� That�s $1000 in real savings you can use to buy groceries, pay the bills, and save for your future.� And that will mean more jobs and more competitive American businesses.

Second, we�re going to make sure that government bureaucrats aren�t messing with your health care.� We�re going to save money by cutting waste from the health care system � not adding it. The cost of health care today is $1.4 trillion.� It would be one thing if all those dollars were being spent making Americans healthier.� They're not.�

Our system simply has too much waste and too much fraud; there's too much inefficiency and too much abuse, too much bureaucracy and too much greed.� Doctors are drowning in paperwork instead of seeing patients.� Families are sitting in emergency rooms wading through forms instead of being by the side of their loved ones.� And industry insiders are cutting corners and making deals that all of us end up paying for.� This is wrong, and when I am President, it will end.

Today, each time you make a health care transaction, it costs up to $25.� The same transactions in other industries, like a bank, cost less than a penny because of better technology.� As President, I�ll bring better technology to our health care system, cutting costs for families and reducing the medical errors that cost lives.

And we�ll do a better job of holding down medical malpractice costs.� No one should ever prevent patients who have been harmed from seeking justice.� But we need a national system in place that will weed out the irresponsible lawsuits without taking away patient's rights.� Lawsuits that have no basis in facts have no place in our courts.� And when I�m President, they�ll be gone.

Third, it�s time to cut rising prescription drug costs. When I�m President., we�ll close loopholes that stop more affordable prescriptions from making it to your pharmacy.� We�ll allow you to buy prescription drugs from Canada safely so you can get the same discounts that are available across the border.� And we�ll negotiate a better price for prescription drugs. That�s a good deal for seniors and a good deal for taxpayers.

With these reforms, we will make real savings in the cost of health care.� More importantly, we�ll save lives, we�ll save jobs, we�ll save paychecks, and we�ll save businesses.� American companies will have an easier time competing around the world, and American small businesses will have more money to grow and create new jobs.� We�ll build healthier households, more prosperous communities, and a stronger America.

For me, health care is an issue that hits very close to home.� In the last two years, I've seen the health care system up close, the good and the bad.� I've lost both my parents.� And just one year ago, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer.� Today, I�m blessed to stand before you 100% cured.� I was lucky to have some of the best care in the world.� And I believe that high quality health care should be affordable to every American.

I�ve seen the faces of America�s health care crisis.� I�ve heard their stories.� And those faces and those stories are what I will take with me everyday of this campaign.� And if I am President, they are what I will take with me every day to the Oval Office as I fight to lower health care costs for all Americans.� I will finally complete the mission begun by Harry Truman, and I will make sure that at long last, affordable health care is a right, and not a privilege, for every American.