Date: 2013-11-15
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 3350. the "Keep Your Health Plan Act of 2013." I oppose the bill for two reasons. First. the Affordable Care Act health insurance plans offered by private insurance companies have 10 basic options that saves lives. Second. the legislation is unnecessary in light of the action taken yesterday by President Obama. which should satisfy the proponents of this legislation while at the same time minimizing the risk to the health and safety of underinsured Americans. who are persons who have insurance but spend more than 10 percent of their income on outofpocket medical expenses. Were it to become law. H.R. 3350 would jeopardize the life and health of those underinsured who purchase these plans this bill protects. even though health insurance plans are available that would in nearly every case provide more health coverage for less. Mr. Speaker. the Affordable Care Act that the Republicans have tried for 46 times to end. delay or impede is working my constituents of the 18th Congressional District and the people of Texas. Flora Alexandra Brewer of Fort Worth a real estate development business owner who works from home kept trying to sign into the website. She was determined to participate in the exchange. She said that her family had preexisting conditions. Flora said that. "Theres nothing more expensive out there on any of the websites that I have looked at than what I am currently paying for COBRA. For the past 10 months. Flora has been paying nearly $1.900 a month for health insurance for her. her husband and one of her sons. She knows that she will most likely not qualify for any subsidies. but she believes she will save around $500 a month under the program commonly known as Obamacare. Those potential savings motivate Brewer not to give up on the exchange. On Wednesday. she called the toll free number listed on healthcare.gov. She spoke to a representative and enrolled in 15 minutes. She will soon receive an email and a packet in the mail detailing the polices and rates she and her family are eligible for." Mark Sullivan. an Entrepreneur from Austin. enrolled in a Plan that reduces his monthly premiums by half. expands his coverage. and gave him the financial security to focus on his small business. "Mark now feels confident focusing on the success of his new consulting business. saying health insurance is one less thing I have to think about as he pours his time and talent into this next major career move. Mark also thinks the marketplace will make it possible for more people to start new businesses and wants to share his success with the larger entrepreneurial community in Austin. After comparing plans. Mark settled on a bronze option and added dental insurance. He will receive an $82 per month subsidy. which will halve the monthly premium he will pay down to $78." Lucy after choosing from over 30 plans is saving $2.300 a year on her premium and $4.000 on her deductible. said that "I signed up at Healthcare.gov and Im going to save $2.300 a year on my premium aloneand more. because my deductible will drop from $7.500 a year to $3.000 a year. Its still Blue Cross insurance. and I dont have to change doctors. either. I had a choice of over 30 plans and several different companies." Mr. Speaker. according to the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured 47 million persons under the age of retirement were uninsured in 2012. Most of the uninsured are selfemployed or employed by small businesses. Another 28 million people were enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP programs to gain access to health insurance. The overwhelming majority (59 percent) of the insured receive their insurance through employer health plans. However. one in six of the uninsured have at least one working person in their household. Mr. Speaker. this is the cost of underinsurance in Americaand this is what we can expect more of should H.R. 3350 become law. The express purpose of this bill is to allow underinsured persons to retain an inadequate "health insurance" plan on the ground that supposedly it is the plan the person "wants to keep." Unfortunately. there is nothing in this bill that would provide consumer education on the inadequacies of the plan and that something much better is available. For example. there is no requirement in this bill for the insurer to notify the insured that health insurance provided through the exchange that provides more and better coverage for less money. This means that under H.R. 3350 people will still have problems paying their medical bills. they will have high bills. and they will not be able to afford prescription medication or be hounded by medical bill collectors. Further. this bill would allow these health insurance plans to be sold to new customers who may not know about the potentially better options available on the health insurance exchanges. The second reason for opposing this rule and bill is that it is unnecessary in view the actions taken yesterday by President Obama. As the President announced. insurers will be permitted to offer consumers the option to renew their 2013 health plans in 2014. without change. allowing them to keep their plans. This should satisfy the proponents of the bill. But the President went further than that because he recognizes that inadequate insurance is really no insurance at all. That is why the President conditioned the ability of insurers to offer plan renewals upon the following: 1. That insurers notify enrollees that they can purchase coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace where they can potentially qualify for premium tax credits. and 2. Those insurers must inform consumers of the protections they are giving up to keep the plan they have. Taken together. President Obamas actions are a tempered and measured response to the alleged problem that this bill seeks to remedy. I fully applaud what the President has done. There may be some who think the availability of the types of health care insurance that H.R. 3350 would protect is sufficient for Americans. I do not. Neither does President Obama. The majority of the American people do not. We believe. and the Affordable Care Act ensures. that healthcare should be available. accessible and adequate. Mr. Speaker. adequate health plans have in common the inclusion of certain minimal benefits and services. Mr. Speaker. my constituents in the 18th Congressional District of Texas favor the Affordable Care Act because they understand the insecurity and feeling of helplessness of being uninsured or underinsured. My home state of Texas has the highest percentage of uninsured (27.6 percent) in the nation. 4 percent more than Louisiana the next state on the list. The state of Massachusetts. in contrast. boasts the lowest uninsured rate in the country (4 percent). This is because Massachusetts several years ago adopted the health insurance system upon which the Affordable Health Care Act is based. Mr. Speaker. health care coverage must be not only available and affordable but also adequate in order for consumers to have the health security and financial protection they need and deserve. The Affordable Care Act satisfies these criteria. the bill before us does not. That is why we should reject this rule and the underlying bill. H.R. 3350 is nothing more than the House Republicans newest variation on their very old theme. which is to repeal. impede or undermine the Affordable Care Act. This bill is the 46th attempt by the Republicans to deprive the American people of the security and peace of mind that comes with health care that is affordable. accessible and adequate. Of course we should not be surprised. After all. it was the House Republicans who shut down the Federal Government for 16 days and cost the economy $24 billion while refusing to consider any legislation that would create jobs or address the real needs of the American people. Mr. Speaker. the bill before is strongly opposed by a coalition of some of the nations leading health and consumer organizations. including the following: Paralyzed Veterans of America. American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. American Diabetes Association. American Federation of State. County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. American Music Therapy Association. The Arc of the United States. The Autistic Self Advocacy Network. Community Catalyst. Families USA. Health and Wholeness Ministries. Disciples Center for Public Witness. Health Care for America Now. National Alliance on Mental Illness. National Association of County Behavioral Health & Developmental Disability Directors. National Council of Jewish Women. National Partnership for Women & Families. These groups oppose the bill for substantially the same reasons I have discussed. While sympathizing with consumers who are receiving notices from their insurance companies that their policies are not being renewed for next year because they do not comply with the ACAs consumer protections. the Coalition rightly observes that: [T]he solution is not to allow for the continued sale of inadequate policies[.] Rather. we must educate consumers about their new health insurance options and ensure that notices being sent by insurers clearly inform them of the shortfalls with their current coverage and explain all of their options for finding better coverage. I agree. Therefore. I urge all Members to join me in voting against this bill.