Elizabeth Rosenthal Quotes

Reducing health care costs for families requires increased competition in health insurance.

We do not see the sort of fundamental changes that would be necessary to reduce the trajectory of federal health spending by a significant amount and, on the contrary, the legislation significantly expands the federal responsibility for health care costs.

I know the exploding cost of health care is at the root of our long-term fiscal challenges.

Where health care has failed is in designing a cost containment mechanism that works.

It puts the provider in a situation of looking for ways to have someone else pick up a piece of the cost. As a result, every customer who has insurance ends up paying a 'hidden premium.' It simply adds to the health care cost burden.

Medical costs are of concern, both in developing and developed countries.

We must solve the problem in health care by curbing out-of-control costs that erode paychecks for working families and push quality coverage out of reach for millions of Americans.

Reversing the escalation of health care costs is going to need more than legislation, yet it can be done without imposing rationing, as critics of reform fear.

They call it managed care but it really is only managed costs.

We don't have a free market in health care. We need to connect customers up with the cost of care. And to drive innovation that way.

American families, families back home in Minnesota, know only too well that out-of-pocket expenses for health care have been rising at an astonishing rate.

America's health care system is neither healthy, caring, nor a system.

Our system of private health insurance that fails to provide coverage to so many of our citizens also contributes to the double-digit health care inflation that is making America less competitive in the global economy.

Economists specialize in pointing out unpleasant trade-offs - a skill that is on full display in the health care debate. We want patients to receive the best care available. We also want consumers to pay less. And we don't want to bankrupt the government or private insurers. Something must give.

A public option is essential to creating the cost-savings necessary to offset the cost of providing all Americans access to affordable health care.

The chronically ill and those toward the end of their lives are accounting for potentially 80% of the total health care bill out there. There is going to have to be a very difficult democratic conversation that takes place. The decision is not whether or not we will ration care. The decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open.

I'm no fan of what I've seen health insurance companies do.

Bring market forces to bear on health care insurers. Creating a health care 'exchange,' one of the better ideas included in House Bill 3200, creates affordable, accessible and portable insurance for millions of Americans.

We really do have to get at the underlying question of health-care costs.

Most Americans want health insurance.

Health care comprises nearly 20 percent of our national economy, but outdated bureaucracy and red tape have stifled competition and raised costs. As a result, today more than 45 million are without any health coverage.

I believe we can incentivize more affordable health care in general by better regulating insurance and creating meaningful competition for health care services.

Health care's like any other product or service: if the consumer is in charge of spending his money on it, then the market will make sure that it is affordable.

Soaring prescription drug costs have placed a tremendous strain on family budgets. They have also imposed a heavy burden on employers - both public and private - who are struggling to provide affordable health insurance coverage to their workers.

It is time that we take control and find a way to curtail the explosive costs of health care. Small businesses deserve a chance to channel these funds toward other needs, such as expanding and creating more jobs for the economy.