Date: 2013-05-16
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself 4 minutes. I rise today in opposition to the Patients Rights Repeal Act. Mr. Speaker. we meet today for the 37th attempt to take away the basic health care rights from millions of Americans. Yet. despite all of these votes. the Affordable Care Act remains the law of the land. And it will remain the law of the land even after todays vote. Thats a fact. So why are we here for the 37th time? Are Republicans afraid that Americans are now able to get basic preventive health care screening with no copay? Are they afraid that Americans will now no longer be gouged or denied coverage because of preexisting conditions? Are Republicans fearful that the insurance companies cant cut off lifesaving care just because somebody got sick? Because they cant do that now with the Affordable Care Act. Why on Earth would anyone fear American families being put back in charge of their health care? But were here. yet again. to satisfy the majoritys needs to have another meaningless vote. This obsession with repeal by the majority is bordering on the absurd. Its time to move on. for goodness sake. Open season is set to begin in 5 months. Americans without affordable insurance will be able to shop for plans in an open and transparent marketplace with the help of tax credits for those who qualify. Employers of small businesses will be able to shop for appropriate health care for their employees and for their businesses with the help of tax credits. Its our duty as public servants to help our constituents navigate this new law. not spend our time obstructing it. Thats how California has approached the reform. Weve worked in a collaborative way with all of the stakeholders. And thats how the government should work. because they know that it will help families struggling to afford health insurance. Take. for instance. a family of four making $60.000 in California who buys their own insurance. Today. they pay some $12.500 on average for insurance. Thats more than $1.000 a month. But starting in January. this family will save almost $5.000 a year because of the Affordable Care Act. Think about what this family can do with that extra $400 a month. It means paying your bills. it means saving money for your kids education. it means repairing your car. This is what the Affordable Care Act can do. This is what ObamaCare does. This is what the Republicans are trying to hide from the American people. Our country has been debating health care for more than a century. They keep saying theres other alternative solutions. Its funny that none of them came forward. None of them came forward during this debate with those alternative solutions. and health premiums were skyrocketing in doubledigits year after year after year. For decades. we debated how to make sure all Americans have access to health care that wont bankrupt them if they get sick. For decades. we debated control of the national health spending by ensuring that everyone is covered. For decades. we debated how to control uncompensated care that cost families dearly. And it took the leadership of Speaker PELOSI and President Obama to bring positive change for families and businesses struggling under the weight of health care costs. The fact of the matter is this plan currently today is working for millions of Americans. for millions of seniors. for millions of young Americans and for millions of young people born with preexisting conditions. Thats what this legislation is about. lowering the cost of prescription drugs for senior citizens and making sure that people can get preventive care without copays. The Republicans want to yank that all away. and they dont have a plan to provide that health care security. Interestingly enough. the other day in The Wall Street Journal was a full discussion about how this health care package is entrepreneurial because people who feel that theyre joblocked will now be able to go out and start businesses because they know theyll have health care insurance for themselves or for their spouses or for the kids. and theyll be able to become the entrepreneurs they want to be. Theres a discussion among large employers because people will leave and take their ideas and start their own businesses. Thats what this health care enables Americans to do for the first time. not be locked into a job because of the fear of the insecurity of not having health care for your family and what that means. This is an entrepreneurial act. This is liberating people. This is freeing people from the financial fear of the loss of health care. Never again. with the passage of this legislation. will an American lose health care because they lost their job. because somebody died in their family or because a child was born with a preexisting condition. Never again. The Republicans dont have an alternative. They only have obstruction and repeal as part of their program. I reserve the balance of my time.