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HEARING OF THE HEALTH, EMPLOYMENT, LABOR AND PENSIONS SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE EDUCATION AND LABOR COMMITTEE SUBJECT: EXAMINING THE SINGLE PAYER HEALTH CARE OPTION CHAIRED BY: REPRESENTATIVE ROBERT ANDREWS (D-NJ) WITNESSES: REPRESENTATIVE JOHN CONYERS (D-MI); DR. MARCIA ANGELL, SENIOR LECTURER IN SOCIAL MEDICINE, HARVARD UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL; DAVID GRATZER, SENIOR FELLOW, MANHATTAN INSTITUTE;... (Part 8).

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HEARING OF THE HEALTH, EMPLOYMENT, LABOR AND PENSIONS SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE EDUCATION AND LABOR COMMITTEE SUBJECT: EXAMINING THE SINGLE PAYER HEALTH CARE OPTION CHAIRED BY: REPRESENTATIVE ROBERT ANDREWS (D-NJ) WITNESSES: REPRESENTATIVE JOHN CONYERS (D-MI); DR. MARCIA ANGELL, SENIOR LECTURER IN SOCIAL MEDICINE, HARVARD UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL; DAVID GRATZER, SENIOR FELLOW, MANHATTAN INSTITUTE; GERI JENKINS, CO-PRESIDENT, CALIFORNIA NURSES ASSOCIATION/ NATIONAL NURSES ORGANIZING COMMITTEE; DR. WALTER TSOU, NATIONAL BOARD ADVISOR, PHYSICIANS FOR A NATIONAL HEALTH PROGRAM; LOCATION: 2175 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING TIME: 10:30 A.M. EDT DATE: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 2009(Part 8)

REP. ANDREWS: (Sounds gavel.) All right. Ladies and gentlemen, we appreciate your patience and your indulgence. We're going to resume the hearing. The gentleman from Illinois, Mr. Hare, is recognized for five minutes.

REP. PHIL HARE (D-IL): Thank you Mr. Chairman. And thank you for holding this hearing which I consider to be extremely important. I am amazed at some of the things that I've heard, and Dr. Gratzer let me just say a couple things. It's my understanding that when the Canadian people were polled, 97 percent of the people in Canada said that they wouldn't trade their health care plan for the United States' plan on a bet. So if it's in crisis, about only 3 percent of your Canadian friends I think would be in agreement with you.

We've heard a lot about lines, lines for health care, having to wait for health care. Here we don't have lines, we just get rejected. I've had constituents who have had C-sections and go into with their insurance company and go in for procedures later and told that they can't -- they're denied because of pre-existing conditions. Here we don't have lines, we have people if they lose their job because of no fault of their own, that leave and don't have portable health care -- and had a 31-year-old man who worked part time jobs, temporary jobs to try to get health care coverage and they found him dead in the shower of...

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