Date: 2009-11-07
Speaker: CORRINE BROWN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. like the majority of Americans. I am well aware of the desperate need in our country for comprehensive health care reform. In fact. the immediate need for reform became crystal clear to me when. over the August district period. I went to a hospital in Jacksonville to visit a friend. This friend. who had worked in the Duval County school system for over 25 years. had lost his job. was without health insurance. was struggling to support himself. and had no idea how he was going to be able to pay the hospital bill. For the many. many Americans who find themselves in similar situations: for the woman who cannot get insurance coverage because she is diabetic and has a preexisting condition. to the one in nine children in America without health care. to the millions of middle class American citizens who skip necessary treatments because they cannot afford it. it is for them that the Affordable Healthcare for America Act. which will ensure that all Americans are covered and have access to affordable care. is necessary. Unfortunately. the bill passed the House without any Republican support. Although many pieces of legislation this session have advanced in a bipartisan manner. particularly in my committees of specialization. Veterans Affairs and Transportation. health care has not been an issue of biparty agreement. In 2003. the Republican Party pushed through a horrible Medicare Prescription drug law that was voted along party lines. in which the Republicans included a "donut hole" provision. in which there is a wide gap in coverage that forces the copayer to pay for much of their own prescription drug costs. Fortunately. the bill on the Floor today will begin to close this loophole. Similarly. todays bill in the House as well as the Senate health care bill. are advancing without any Republican support. Social Security was created in 1935 by Franklin D. Roosevelt as part of the New Deal. Medicare. in 1965. and Medicaid. in 1965. through Title XIX of the Social Security Act. All of these programs were created by Democrats without the votes of the majority of Republicans. One aspect of health care reform of utmost importance to me is maintaining proper funding for Disproportionate Share Hospitals (DSH). like Shands Jacksonville (and Gainesville). who provide healthcare to uninsured and/or individuals with limited incomes. Disproportionate Share Hospitals are invaluable. as they are the one true safety net for the working poor nationwide. I fought hard to keep DSH funding in the Budget Reconciliation negotiations during the Clinton years. and have been working throughout the entire process to ensure that their funding was not stripped in the health care bill before us today. Another extremely important issue addressed in this bill is that it prevents insurance companies from denying people coverage based on preexisting medical conditions. Indisputably. denying a health insurance plan to someone merely because theyre likely to need a particular form of medical care runs contrary to the underlying reason for providing medical insurance and medical care in the first place. So the bill before the House today opens doors to quality medical care to those who were shut out of the system for much too long. and also makes prevention a key piece of this legislations goal. since it puts a renewed emphasis on preventive care. expands access to screenings and other treatments. and even promotes wellness in the workplace. Indeed. for nearly a century leaders from all over the political spectrum. beginning with President Theodore Roosevelt. have called and fought for health care and health insurance reform. Finally today. the House of Representatives. the Peoples House. is about to deliver on the promise of making affordable. quality health care available for all Americans. The Affordable Health Care for America Act is founded on key principles of American success: opportunity. choice. competition. and innovation. Among the many positive things this bill does. a few items that stand out is that it will provide coverage to nearly all our nations citizens. while at the same time reducing the deficit by $32 billion over the first 10 years. It will also require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries. begin to close the prescription drug "donut hole" immediately. create a new. voluntary insurance program to make longterm care more affordable. and repeal the antitrust exemption for health insurance companies. For Floridians in particular. where more than one in five residents do not have health insurance. and for my constituents in Floridas third congressional district and minority communities nationwide. the need for health care reform is obvious. For the African American community and Hispanics. groups who make up nearly half of the estimated 50 million Americans who lack insurance. this is imperative. In addition. health care costs have become outright unsustainable. and experts predict that in the near future. onefifth of our nations GDP will go towards health care spending. The benefits for my district. Floridas third. are numerous. In fact. the Affordable Health Care Act will: Improve employerbased coverage for 300.000 residents. provide credits to help pay for coverage for up to 192.000 households. improve Medicare for 93.000 beneficiaries. including closing the prescription drug donut hole for 6.600 seniors. allow 20.100 small businesses to obtain affordable health care coverage and provide tax credits to help reduce health insurance costs for up to 18.400 small businesses. provide coverage for 138.000 uninsured residents. protect up to 1.400 families from bankruptcy due to unaffordable health care costs. reduce the cost of uncompensated care for hospitals and health care providers by $145 million. For too long. health care has been a privilege. not a right in America. And for years our nations leaders have fought to bring the promise of quality. affordable health care to every American. Today is a groundbreaking moment in this historic effort. Indeed. we are now closer than ever to guaranteeing every American access to quality. affordable health insurance and giving middleclass families and businesses relief from crushing costs. while simultaneously reducing our nations deficit.