Full Transcript of Pelosi Press Conference on Health C...(m the stress and the trauma of losing th...),Health

Thanks.

Caucus Chairman Larson. Average Americans like Diane and Joe and Phil and Tammy, who I am going to introduce, become extraordinary Americans when they speak up on behalf of their country and their fellow Americans who are enduring when all of them have had the opportunity to outline today.

Tammy is at ground zero. She's one of those small business owners. She owns a small coffee shop, Rostov's Coffee, and she employs nine employee people -- four full-time, five part-time. She works tirelessly and wants to do the right thing on behalf of her employees to make sure that they have health care benefits. But as a small employer, it is out of her reach even though she struggles to provide some of them the coverage that they need.

The President's Council on Economic Advisers informs us that employer spending for health care premiums will more than double to $885 billion by 2019. Premiums for health care plans will increase 20 percent in the next four years, resulting in 3.5 million American workers losing their jobs.

Because of rising costs, one in five employers will stop offering health care benefits in the next three to five years, which means 11 million Americans will lose their employer-sponsored health insurance by 2019.

You heard it here firsthand: A job and health care go hand in hand. They are synonymous in this economy.

Health care reform will not only give Tammy and her employees an opportunity to get quality, affordable health care insurance, it will keep small businesses like Tammy's coffee shop from being dragged down by the overwhelming costs of

Someone on the front lines for America, at ground zero, Tammy Rostov.

Tammy Rostov. Thank you, Chairman Larson.

As he s
'/>"/>