TITLE: Urging Congress to keep the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

SUMMARY: Urging Congress to keep the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

FULL TEXT:
WHEREAS, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a landmark achievement that has enhanced the lives of millions of Americans by increasing both access to and quality of health care; and WHEREAS, Since the law's passage in 2010, more than 21 million people, including 1.7 million Texans, have gained health insurance coverage, dropping the nation's uninsured rate to a record low; while our state continues to lead the country with an uninsured rate 1.75 times higher than the national average, and although more than 4.3 million Texans still lack coverage, we would face an even greater problem without this important program; and WHEREAS, The ACA has benefited Texas families by improving the affordability of medical care; the law has required health insurance plans to include preventive services at no extra cost to consumers and extended mental health and substance use disorder benefits and federal parity protections to an estimated 62 million Americans; it has also helped close the Medicare coverage gap for prescription drugs, saving the program's enrollees in Texas nearly $1 billion; and WHEREAS, The law has prohibited a number of discriminatory practices in the health insurance industry that once precluded countless people from receiving coverage; in addition to banning annual and lifetime limits in policies, the law has barred insurers from denying coverage based on preexisting conditions and from rescinding policies for any reason other than nonpayment or fraud; moreover, insurers are no longer allowed to charge women higher premiums than men for the same coverage; and WHEREAS, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has revolutionized health care for the better, as more people now enjoy the security of health insurance than at any other time in our nation's history; though it is necessary to continue building on the law's success with improvements, it is paramount that we uphold this historic legislation for the millions who currently depend on it and for the generations to come; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas hereby urge the United States Congress to preserve the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; and, be it further RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.