Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

The discussion over health care reform is heating up in Congress and across the country, and there is much being said about all aspects of reform. In my view, reform is needed because health care costs are spiraling out of control. Americans spend more than $2 trillion annually on health care, but nearly $700 billion of that is considered wasteful spending that does not benefit patients. At the same time, nearly 50 million Americans – nearly one-quarter of New Mexicans – lack health insurance. We cannot sustain this path. 

The health care debate has just begun in the Senate Health, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and will soon follow in the Senate Finance Committee.  As a member of both committees, I will be pushing hard for a bill that deals with three key areas: containing health care costs, ensuring that every American has access to affordable health insurance, and improving the quality of care. I outlined some of these priorities at a recent health care reform press conference and on my PolicyCast on Beginning the Debate on Health Care Reform.

Much attention has been given to whether the bill we send to the president should have a “public option.” I strongly support a public option.  The most critical elements of such a plan are that it would be established and overseen by the federal government, and made available to all Americans. The primary purpose of the public plan is to ensure that there is at least one option for Americans that is affordable and would provide meaningful care. By leveraging competition, a public plan would also safeguard against unscrupulous insurances practices.  You can learn how the public option fits into health care reform elsewhere on my website.

Some Americans like their health care plans. The legislation we write will ensure that if they like what they have, they must be able to keep it. I detailed elements of my coverage component in the HELP bill in a recent PolicyCast.

The health care debate is ongoing here in the Senate, as it is across America. The HELP Committee passed its version of health care legislation - known as a 'markup' - out of committee recently, and you can read a summary of the legislation or watch me answer some of the most common questions on this bill that I received from constituents. You can also watch a brief statement I gave when the measure passed out of the HELP Committee, or read my most recent newsletter, Fixing Our Broken Health Care System.

Our health care system is clearly not working for all Americans.  Tens of millions of Americans lack coverage and tens of millions more live with financial insecurity because the coverage they have doesn’t meet their needs. I hope we take this historic opportunity to improve health care for all Americans.