In the first press event since the passage of the House health bill, H.R. 3962, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi joined Congressmen Jim McDermott (WA-7) and Jay Inslee (WA-1) at Seattle’s Swedish Medical Center. That bill passed 220-215 in the House on Saturday.



“It’s important that we would come here, to Swedish, on the first public hearing for many of us since this legislation passed,” said Pelosi. “I say appropriate because Swedish has been in the lead, and what is being said here is nothing to be taken for granted. When we’re talking about admiration among healthcare professionals… when we’re talking about a Medical Home, when we’re talking about reducing infections, Swedish has been in the lead.”

The press event was not without disruption, though both were minor. A woman tried to enter the press briefing while McDermott spoke, shouting, “I have Stage 4 kidney cancer – arrest me!” At the end of the conference, a man shouted to Pelosi, “Please don’t send me to jail for not buying health insurance.”

Both were in reference to the health insurance mandate that is part of the bill. Pelosi responded to a question about the mandate, saying, “Well, the point is that we want to make sure people have access to healthcare.”

When pressed, she continued, “I think the legislation is very fair in this respect. It gives people an opportunity to have healthcare, access to quality healthcare. If they can’t afford it, it provides subsidies for them to do so. But do you think it’s fair if somebody says, I’m just not going to have any if I get sick and I’ll just go to the emergency room and hand the bill to [taxpayers]?”


Confronting the ‘abortion amendment’ Pelosi said, “Let me say that we have for a long time now… been trying to find a common ground with those who describe themselves as pro-life, which we all describe ourselves as. We couldn’t find that common ground yet. So, therefore the amendment was necessary in order to give them the chance to vote on that so we could pass the bill. But we won’t stop trying to find common ground.”

With gusto and added fanfare from the crowd, Pelosi also stated, “Thanks to this legislation being a woman is no longer a pre-existing condition.”



When Pelosi spoke, she expressed admiration for each of Washington’s Democratic Congressmen, except for Brian Baird (WA-3) who voted against the H.R. 3962.

“This is a day at Swedish Hospital to celebrate American healthcare reform,” said Congressman Jay Inslee. “For years Washington State has had the short end of the stick because we’ve been efficient. And we’ve been punished for that by paying physicians, nurses, hospitals, physical therapists, anywhere from 15 to 50% less than other patients might get in New York or Miami. That’s why we spent $7000 a year for a Medicare patient and they spent $16,300 in Miami.”

Pelosi said, “[McDermott and Inslee] would not rest until this formulation was changed about [Medicare reimbursements].”

Inslee said, “I can tell you, because of the passage of this bill, finally Washington State patients, physicians, nurses, physical therapists, anesthesiologists, and hospitals are going to be treated fairly.”



Before the press conference, the members of Congress were given a brief tour by Swedish RN Carolyn Trong, beginning in the Surgical ICU. “Today I’m going to be talking to Speaker Pelosi about the healthcare reform and how Swedish has actually been working on these initiatives even before the bill has passed,” said Trong.

There was also a group of protesters outside the hospital waving signs after the press conference.

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