Date: 2013-05-16
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise in opposition to the Rule and the underlying legislation because this bill would repeal the Affordable Care Act. The American people have been engaged in a debate over universal healthcare for six generations. In 1949. Harry Truman became the first sitting President to propose universal healthcare for all Americans as part of the "Fair Deal." On March 23. 2010. with the stroke of President Obamas pen. the American people received this part of the "Fair Deal." This bill did not become law in the dead of night. but in the full process this body affords serious consideration of legislation. There were committee hearings. staff and member meetings. amendments and a final vote in both the House and the Senate before it was sent to the Presidents desk. The Affordable Care Act has been affirmed to be law by every means provided by our nations constitution: On March 21. 2010. the House passed the Affordable Care Act following Senate Consideration of the bill. On March 23. 2010. President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law. On June 28. 2012. the United States Supreme Court issued an opinion in National Federation of Independent Businesses v. Sebelius. affirming the constitutionality of the lawleaving intact the majority of the incentives to expand healthcare coverage to millions of Americans. The Affordable Care Act was a central issue in the Presidential election of 2012. The candidate who signed the Affordable Care Act into law won the election by 51.1 percent of the popular vote and 62 percent of the electoral vote. Why are we here for the 37th time in three years to again vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act? It is difficult to recall any series of actions within a short time period that have overcome every hurdle that our system of government has to establish and affirm that a lawis the law of this nation. I believe Mr. Speaker it is important to remind new members of this body and those who are closely watching this debate that the Affordable Care Act is law. People living in each of the Congressional Districts represented in this body are benefiting from the Affordable Care Act. The leadership of this Congress may want to give new members of Congress the opportunity to tell the people back home that they voted to repeal "Obamacare." Unfortunately. they are also toying with the emotions of people who know that without the Affordable Care Act they have no other option for healthcare. Because of the Affordable Care Act. Americans are already seeing lower costs. better coverage. and patient protections that Republicans want to repeal: 13 million Americans benefited from $1.1 billion in rebates sent to them from their health insurance companies last year. 105 million Americans have access to free preventive services. including 71 million Americans in private plans and 34 million seniors on Medicare. Millions of women began receiving free coverage for comprehensive womens preventive services in August 2012. 100 million Americans no longer have a lifetime limit on healthcare coverage. Nearly 17 million children with preexisting conditions can no longer be denied coverage by insurers. 6.6 million young adults up to age 26 have health insurance through their parents plan. half of whom would be uninsured without this coverage. 6.3 million Seniors in the donut hole have already saved $6.1 billion on their prescription drugs. 3.2 million Seniors have access to free annual wellness visits under Medicare. and 360.000 small employers have already taken advantage of the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit to provide health insurance to 2 million workers. Because of the Affordable Care Act 3.8 million people in Texasincluding 2.2 million seniors on Medicare now receive preventative care services. Over 7 million Texans no longer have to fear lifetime limits on their healthcare insurance. Texas parents of 300.731 young adults can sleep easier at night knowing that their children can remain on their health insurance until age 26. The protection provided by this law is a guarantee to 5 million Texas residents that their insurance companies will spend 80 percent of their premium dollars on healthcare. or customers will get a rebate from their insurance company. In my state. there are 4.029 people who had no insurance because of preexisting conditions. but today the Affordable Care Act has provided them with access to coverage. The Affordable Care Act means that many Texans are free of worry about having access to healthcare insurance. However. the list of benefits from the Affordable Care Act is not completed. In 2014. the Affordable Care Acts final provisions will become available to our citizens. Insurance companies will be banned from: discriminating against anyone with a preexisting condition charging higher rates based on gender or health status enforcing lifetime dollar limits enforcing annual dollar limits on health benefits In 2014. access to affordable healthcare for the self employed or those who decide to purchase their own coverage will be easier because of Affordable Insurance Exchanges. There will be a one stop marketplace where consumers can do what Federal employees have done for decadespurchase insurance at reasonable rates from an insurer of their choice. This will assure that health care consumers can get the care that they need from the medical professionals they trust. I do not believe that the healthcare law is perfectbut what is worseis the imperfection of the House Leadership in allowing this continued rehashing of a debate over a law that is not going away. Congress should be working to mend the Affordable Care Act where we believe it can be improved. and not end healthcare security for millions of our constituents. Healthcare is the difference between life and death for too many of our constituents. The bill that needs to be amended or rejected is the one before us: H.R. 45. For this reason. I offered amendments before the Rules Committee to address minority health disparities. medical payments to small physician owned hospitals. and a plan to study the impact of the healthcare law. Jackson Lee Amendment Number 1 would have removed all of the bill text following the enacting clause of the legislation. which would have ended this exercise to repeal the Affordable Care Act. This legislation is so bad it cannot be salvaged and the United States would be better off without it. Jackson Lee Amendment Number 2 would have ensured full Medicare reimbursement to all hospitals including physician owned hospitals with at least 100 beds. provided they could produce reliable records to document their claims for reimbursement. Jackson Lee Amendment Number 3 would have authorized additional funding to establish Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). These centers are the last line of defense provided in the bill to make sure those living on the margins of societythe poorest of the poor had access to reliable healthcare. FQHC programs would be based in clinics. community based health care centers and proactive outreach programs that target the homeless or marginally housed with information on how to get access to good healthcare. Jackson Lee Amendment Number 4 would have expanded state use of the Medicaid option of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care law when the uninsured rate of qualifying residents of a state exceeds 20 percent. States wishing to optout of Medicaid would have the option of submitting a plan to reduce the rate of uninsured to 20 percent or less to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. This amendment would have benefited Texas enormously since it leads the nation in uninsured residents at 28.8 percent. In fact Texas has held this number 1 ranking. of the state with the highest number of uninsured residents. for the last five consecutive years. Jackson Lee Amendment Number 5 would have established a program to conduct studies of minority health disparities. The Amendment directed the Secretary of Health and Human Services to submit an annual report of findings regarding minority health disparities and make recommendations on how disparities may be reduced. Jackson Lee Amendment Number 6 expressed the Sense of the Congress that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is law in the United States of America. The amendment enumerated each step that made it the law including a decision by the United States Supreme Court. The amendment then directed the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report to Congress on the impact of the law on those it is intended to help. The Amendment would have not allowed this Congress to revisit repeal until it had research on the impact of the law to guide its further deliberation of repeal. This Congress has work that needs to be done. and it has work that should be taken up to restore workers. their families and communities to sound economic health. The healthcare law has many benefitsbut I will redouble my efforts to mend the parts that need additional work and educate my constituents so that they can take advantage of the benefits of having access to healthcare. For all of these reasons. I urge my Colleagues to join me in voting no on the Rule and the underlying legislation. The material previously referred to by Ms. SLAUGHTER is as follows: