Date: 2010-03-20
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I was on this floor just a moment ago. and I guess I am struck by this quote by Thomas Edison. because as I have listened to more of my colleagues. it seems as if they are driving themselves into failure and they just want to see this determined and committed number of Members who represent constituencies across America driven into failure as well. But it says: Many of lifes failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. And so the stories that we have heard about a young 11yearold who has the common sense to know that maybe his mother would have lived had she had the right kind of coverage. to my good friend who was just on the floor of the House and mentioned his constituents from his great State of Alabama. I dont know if that constituent that drove 900plus miles realized that Alabama has one insurance company. only one. no competition. And so when we think about where we are today on the eve of that magnificent vote. this is not arrogance. it is not an attempt to have the majority abuse the minority. It is to reflect on those Americans who did not come. who in silence suffer and die because they have no insurance. I support this legislation. but there are fixes that I would like to have. and I am committed to working beyond the vote tomorrow. I dont like to see the comments that I have seen on signs. I respect it. because I am someone who appreciates the Constitution. There is no instruction or demand on people to get insurance that is unconstitutional. In States. we require people to buy auto insurance. get seat buckles. to wear helmets when they are riding on motorcycles. This is to save lives. And we provide incentives to small businesses and subsidies. And so today in the Rules Committee I submitted amendments. because I want to help a body of hospitals that are in rural and minority areas. My amendments had to do with what we call physicianowned hospitals. My first amendment was to preserve physicianowned facilities. They have a greater percentage of Medicaid inpatient admissions than the State average in operation and allows them to expand. a fix that is not illegal but one that we want to work on as we move forward. My second amendment is extremely critical for minority communities in highpoverty areas. This amendment would prevent physician safetynet hospitals from closing and preserves critical care access for impoverished communities and the disabled. My third amendment. that is supported by the Physician Hospital Association of America. would effectively prevent the closure of 230 existing hospitals. save $2.9 billion in total payroll. $608 million in Federal taxes. $3.5 billion in trade payables. and preserves 62.000 full- and parttime jobs. the Senate amendment. by striking all language that prohibits the grandfathered facilities from expanding. I am grateful for what we have done so far. We have extended the time in which these hospitals can receive their Medicare certificate. which means that more hospitals can come online. That is a good thing. That is why I understand that I am so close. that we are so close. to success. that I am not going to allow failure to destroy that success for millions of Americans. But I do want to tell you about St. Josephs Hospital in Houston that was going to close until many of us intervened. In fact. I said something like. Over my dead body would this hospital close and not serve our constituents. Well. a group of doctors were able to invest. and lo and behold this hospital now serves one of the most incomechallenged and a hospital that serves in the African American community. Physician ownership provides an avenue for it to stay open. Or in south Texas an outofstate corporation forced over 700.000 Texans to travel more than 250 miles to receive lifesaving medical procedures. Decisions not to offer needed services by outofstate health care conglomerates and the lack of public or county hospitals left patients with two options: go without or transfer to another facility 350 miles away. So there is value to physicianowned hospitals. and one opened in south Texas and therefore stopped this drain of sick people having to drive 350 miles just to get medical care or hospitalization. Or in the Chinatown section of Los Angeles. the Pacific Alliance Medical Center is a 142bed fullservice hospital and has been the communitys main hospital for 140 years. This facility was purchased by a group of physicians 20 years ago after the existing hospital board planned to close and demolish this facility. Throwing a lifeline. this is what these hospitals do. Or in Wisconsin. the Aurora Bay Care Medical Center. a 167bed fullservice hospital. holds seven centers of excellence. and it was the first hospital in the country to become a designated emergency center. Or the Wenatchee Valley Medical Center established in 1940 in the State of Washington is a large rural health care center that helps serve patients in a largely rural area. There is a lot of good work that has already been done. This bill has been reviewed over and over again. So what my opponents say on the other side or the opponents of this bill. this bill has been on the table for a long time. We know that we can work going forward to make things better. So no amount of attack. being spat on by those who have come here to this place to show their opposition. or being called names is going to stop us from seeing success just down the road. But we want to work for these hospitals who are in rural and minority areas and poor areas to be able to stay open as well. I know that in working with my colleagues and moving to the other body we will have that opportunity. Why dont my friends on the other side sit down and work as well so that we can have what all America is crying out for. those who are listening and understanding the issue. that is. health care for all Americans. Not socialized medicine. not a government takeover. but the opportunity to see the good and the value of good health care for this great country of ours. I want to see success. I am not going to allow failure to get in the way of success. Mr. Speaker. I have three amendments at the desk and I rise to speak in support of my amendments No. 1. No. 2 and No. 3 to H.R. 4872. the Reconciliation Act of 2010. My first amendment would preserve physicianowned facilities that have a greater percentage of Medicaid Inpatient Admissions than the state average in operation and allows them to expand. My second amendment is extremely critical for minority communities and high poverty areas. This amendment would prevent physician safetynet hospitals from closing and preserves critical care access for impoverished communities and the disabled. My third amendment. supported by Physician Hospital Association of America. would effectively prevent the closure of 230 existing hospitals. save $2.9 billion in total payroll. $608 million in federal taxes. $3.5 billion in trade payables. and preserves 62.000 full- and parttime jobs by striking all language that prohibits grandfathered facilities from expanding. As you know during the ongoing healthcare debate. discussions about physician ownership of hospitals have ignored the positive impact these facilities have had on minority communities and minority physicians. Physicianowned general acute care hospitals. who have unprecedented amounts of minority owners. have allowed Hispanic. Black. and Asian Americans to enter into the field of hospital ownership. The largest physicianowned hospital. Doctors Hospital at Renaissance. is over 50 percent minority owned. Physicianowned hospitals have created a positive change in the quality and delivery of care to minority populations. The insight gained by the diversification of hospital ownership has led to many new advances in care delivery and opened up untapped avenues and knowledge in the race to cure and/or prevent diabetes. AIDS. cancer. and other illnesses we all face. While we are pleased that language to grandfather existing physician hospitals has been included in the Senate Amendment package. this bill still contains language that prohibits these needed institutions from expanding. This prohibition will lead to their eventual closure and endanger hospital access for minority and lowincome communities. Physician ownership has enabled high poverty and minority areas to open hospitals where corporateowned facilities wanted to abandon a current site or refused to bring in needed services. By way of competition. physician hospitals have raised the bar of service in communities often ignored by large healthcare corporations. offer exceptional overall care. and forced all hospitals in an area to do better for their community. To help you understand what is stake. I would like to highlight some of these success stories: In Houston. St. Josephs Hospital. a full service general acute care center. is the only hospital that serves one of the most incomechallenged and minority sections of the city. Within the last few years. a forprofit corporation abandoned this hospital and the surrounding community. Physician ownership provided an avenue for it stay open and prevent a critical loss for the neighborhood. In South Texas. outofstate corporations forced over 700.000 Texans to travel more than 250 miles to receive lifesaving medical procedures. Decisions not to offer needed services by outofstate healthcare conglomerates and the lack of public or county hospitals. left patients with two options: go without or to transfer to another facility up to 350 miles away. Income challenged families who could not afford the travel were placed in great peril. Physician ownership enabled a group of local doctors to open a new hospital with advanced medical capabilities that reduced the need for travel to seek care. Doctors Hospital at Renaissance. a 506bed premiere general acute care center. now provides some of the best care in the nation and consistently has been recognized by Thompson Reuters as a Top 100 Hospital in the nation. In the Chinatown section of Los Angeles. California. the Pacific Alliance Medical Center (PAMC). a 142bed full service hospital. has been the communitys main hospital for 140 years. This facility was purchased by a group of physicians 20 years ago after the existing hospital board planned to close and demolish the facility. Physician ownership once again provided an avenue for the hospital to stay open and serve an at risk community. In Wisconsin. Aurora Baycare Medical Center. a 167bed. fullservice hospital hosts seven Centers of Excellence and was the first hospital in the country to become a designated Emergency Center of Excellence. The Womens Center at Aurora Baycare was also the first in Wisconsin to be accredited for breast care by the American College of Surgeons. Established in 1940. Wenatchee Valley Medical Center in the state of Washington. is a large rural healthcare delivery system that helps serve patient needs in a largely rural area. It has brought countless lifesaving procedures to a community in need. Without physician ownership. the number of minority hospital owners will decrease substantially. lowincome and minority communities will see a reduction in the amount of available services in their community. and some will be left with no access to hospitals. While this may sound extreme. unfortunately. it has happened and will happen if this measure is left unchanged. This is also extremely distressing since the effect of this section will be to reduce access while simultaneously adding 30 million new Americans to the healthcare system. mostly in these very communities that will see their safety net hospitals close. While I support all physicianowned facilities and comprehensive efforts to incorporate everyone into our national hospital network. today I start that process by helping preserve physicianowned facilities that serve poor. disabled. indigent. or uninsured patients. These amendments were crafted with strict adherence to the reconciliation process and fully comply with the Byrd Rule. As a Member of Congress whose constituents are greatly assisted by physicianowned facilities. I urge my colleagues tohelp my community. help my constituents. and help America build a better and inclusive health care system.