Health Care

Saturday was an historic day. Not only did it see the passage of health care reform in the House of Representatives by a 220 – 215 vote, but it was the day that Representative John Garamendi gave his first speech on the floor of the House as a member of the House. Garamendi, California’s first State Insurance Commissioner, also proudly cast one of his first votes in Congress for the Affordable Health Care Act for America, H.R. 3962.

“This is the most important vote of my public policy career,” Rep. Garamendi said.

The Affordable Health Care for America Act will provide every American citizen access to quality, affordable patient-centered health care—while reducing the deficit and lowering costs—instead of leaving Americans at the mercy of a health insurance industry calling the shots and rationing our health care. The bill must now be merged with legislation under consideration in the U.S. Senate.

“The bill has strong comprehensive insurance reform and creates the penultimate enforcement mechanism — The public option — that in its fullness would allow all of us to walk away from the clutches of the profit before people private insurance companies whose first operating commandment is ‘Pay as little as late as possible,’” Garamendi said in his speech.