Date: 2012-03-19
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

I thank the gentlelady for her kindness. As a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. the cochair and founder of the Congressional Childrens Caucus. and a member of the Health Care Task Force. it is now time to commemorateeven to celebrate2 years of the Affordable Care Act. particularly coming from an area that embraces the Texas Medical Center. where so much research has benefited from the passage of the Affordable Care Act and the added commitment to research for any number of diseases that we are still confronted with. So I am baffled by the opposition to this bill and the usage that it has seemingly come upon during the Republican Presidential debates. For. in actuality. if they would read the bill and look at its basic premises. they would take up the cause of saying that it is a very important element of making Americans more healthy. And I thank the gentlelady from the Virgin Islands for her leadership on health care issues and. of course. for leading this Special Order and. as well. the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus for making sure that we are focused on how this impacts our community. Children. in particular. wont lose their coverage just because they were born with preexisting conditions like asthma. And American families are seeing how reform is saving lives and saving money. Medicare is now stronger for seniors. and women can now get lifesaving mammograms at no extra cost. In eliminating racial and ethnic health disparities. which we worked on continuously and. as a caucus. submitted this language to the Affordable Care Act. we find that it would have reduced direct medical care expenditures by $229.4 billion for the years 2003 to 2006. This bill was passed after that. And even though all the language that the CBC wanted to include in that bill was not included. large steps were made in terms of the elements of that bill. This bill protects and provides for the fact that if you have an illness that is chronic. you do not have lifetime caps. Eightysix million Americans receive free preventative care. that means they get lifesaving cancer screenings like mammograms and colonoscopies. and soon women can have their contraceptives covered without paying a copay or deductible. They are living healthier lives. There is evidence. unfortunately. that over the years has shown that for infant mortality rates of mothers age 20plus. race. ethnicity. and education makes a difference. For mothers with less than high school. it is high among all populations. including white women. High school. it is almost equally as high: 13.4 African Americans per 1.000 births. 9.2 American Indians per 1.000 births. 6.5 white/nonHispanic. 5.6 Asian/Pacific Islander. and 5.3 Hispanic. It is shameful that we lose our newborns because of lack of health care and education. The Affordable Care Act will change that because it will create greater opportunities for access to health care. 180 million are now protected against the worst insurance abuses. like denying health care to the sick. excessive premium increases. and lifetime caps. An additional 2.5 million young adults now have insurance. Thats because the Affordable Care Act allows families. parents. to keep their children on insurance until age 26. I have personally spoken to families who have said. Thank you. And lives have been saved. What is the Affordable Care Act? It is saving lives. Fortyseven million Americans now benefit from a stronger Medicare program. The solvency of the program has been extended by 8 years. New prescription drug discounts have saved 3.6 million seniors on Medicare an average of $600. and seniors understand that in just a few years to come. the doughnut hole will be completely closed. The worst Medicare reform we ever sawand it was not reformed. It was actually a blight on Medicare to have something called the prescription drug part D with a big fat doughnut hole. which most seniors fell in and almost drowned. Thank goodness we are ending that aspect of it. But let me tell you why its important to have the Affordable Care Act. Coming from the State that I do and having experienced this past week. over the last 10 days. as weve been fighting thisand it is galvanizingas Planned Parenthood has gone around the State of Texas. and as we watch various State laws infringe upon womens health care and access to health careif you can imagine. a sonogram that forces a woman to look at a sonogram along with her physician. This should be a prayerful and private moment where laws do not intrude on a private decision. Or the law that says that you have to tell your employer what reason you are using contraception for. These are outrageous aspects. Or Planned Parenthood affiliates that have nothing to do with abortion in the State of Texas now are eliminated from receiving precious Medicaid dollars in the State of Texas. which has the highest number of uninsured. mostly among young women and single women with children. They are denying them access to health care because they are claiming that affiliates are performing abortions. They know that is not true. Were going to fight it. were going to fight it. and were going to fight it. One of the reasons is because the Affordable Care Act provides equal opportunity to access health care. It is shameful that the State of Texas is turning away some $30 million to $40 million to help women have access to health care. It is shameful that theyve already cut $76.9 million. So I want to thank Representative Garnet Coleman. Representative Sylvester Turner. Representative Alma Allen. Representative Carol Alvarado. and a number of others who recognize that the State should take a different position and are working with me to turn the clock forward and not backwards in terms of health care for women in the State of Texas. We need all the help we can get. And the Affordable Care Act. a reasoned response to good health care. is providing that legitimate law to say that all Americans deserve access to good health care. For my district. it improves employerbased coverage for 279.000 residents. That is the 18th Congressional District in the State of Texas. It provides credits to help pay for coverage for up to 186.000 households. improves Medicare for 70.000 beneficiariesseniorsincluding closing the prescription drug doughnut hole for 5.300 seniors. It allows 16.600 small businesses to obtain affordable health care. If we say we care about small businessesI hear that all the timethen why are you condemning the Affordable Care Act that helps small business provide tax credits to help reduce health care insurance for up to 14.600 small businesses in the 18th Congressional District in Texas? Multiply that by 435 districts. There are millions of small businesses being helped. It provides coverage for 187.000 uninsured residents. Remember. I said Texas is the State with the highest number of uninsured persons without health care. It protects up to 500 families from bankruptcy due to unaffordable health care costs. And when we were dealing with bankruptcies in the Judiciary Committee. one of the single most difficult elements of bankruptcy was catastrophic illnesses. It provides better health care coverage for the insured. Approximately 41 percent of the districts population of 279.000 will receive coverage from their employer. There are many other aspects of what this insurance reform. Affordable Care Act. good health care does for Americans. And so I am happy to celebrate the Affordable Care Act because I believe that lives have been saved. Children with diabetes or children with preexisting diseases that would not have access to health care. other than the emergency room. now can get good coverage and good care. Finally. I would say something that we collectively supported that has been an asset in my congressional district is that a health clinic has received millions of dollars through the stimulus pursuant to our commitment to community health clinics and now has 20 patient rooms. increased jobs. and is providing good health care in that community. Community health clinics have become firstline responders to providing access to all people. So I thank the gentlelady for allowing me to share these thoughts. but in particular I thank her for helping me acknowledge the fight we have in Texas. where womens access to health care foolishly has been denied. And incorrectly. I believe. labeling Planned Parenthood and its affiliatesin particular the affiliates. who have over the years through the Bush administration when President Bush was in officethis bill was passed in the State of Texasbut the affiliates were allowed to continue to give good health care. and no question was ever raised that they were mixing Federal dollars in their clinics that might have provided for abortions. It is against the law. Why we are denying women in the State of Texas their health care. their lifeline. baffles all of us. But were going to fight to the end. and look forward to working with Health and Human Services to ensure that we can fight for good health care for all Americans and the women of the State of Texas. I rise today to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of the Affordable Health Care Act. After years of trying to ensure that all Americans will have access to health care. we passed a measure which is a step in the right direction to one day guaranteeing that every American will have access to affordable care. In March 2010. we passed and President Obama signed into law historic health care reform legislation. the Affordable Care Act (ACA). As the founding Member of the Childrens Caucus and Active Member of the Womens Caucus I am keenly aware that having access to affordable health care will result in healthier families. As a Representative from the State of Texas I realize the importance of the ACA. Texas has the highest rate of uninsured individuals in the U.S. including the working uninsured or under insured. Because of the ACA millions of Americans are already benefitting from this law: insurers are no longer allowed to discriminate against children and others who are sick. small businesses are receiving billions of dollars in tax credits to provide health care coverage for their employees. and seniors are saving money on prescription drugs and receiving free preventive care through Medicare. In the 2 years since the President signed his health reforms into law. millions of Americans have already experienced firsthand its important benefits and the economic security it provides. Medicare is now stronger for seniors. and women can now get lifesaving mammograms at no extra cost. Children wont lose their coverage just because they were born with preexisting conditions like asthmaand American families are seeing how reform is saving lives and saving money. Since we passed reform almost 2 years ago. Americans have seen its positive impact: Eightysix million Americans received free preventive care. That means they got livesaving cancer screenings like mammograms and colonoscopies. and soon women can have their contraception covered without paying a copay or deductible. Theyre living healthier lives while saving money at the same time. One hundred eighty million are now protected against the worst insurance abuses. like denying health care to the sick. excessive premium increases and lifetime caps on the amount of care a patient can receive. and soon will be protected against gender discrimination. An additional 2.5 million young adults now have insurance. Thats because President Obamas health reform made sure they could stay on parents plans as they enter the workforce. until they turn 26. Fortyseven million Americans now benefit from a stronger Medicare program. The solvency of the program has been extended by 8 years. and new prescription drug discounts have saved 3.6 million people with Medicare an average of $600. Thats just the beginning. As the law continues to phase in over the coming months. so will more of its benefits. New reforms will lower costs and raise the quality of care. Seniors will see their Medicare coverage continue to improve. and see the doughnut hole completely close. And in 2 years. every single American. regardless of their circumstanceswhether they want to change jobs. start a business or retire early. or even if they lose their jobwill have access to affordable. quality health insurance. Presidents have been trying to make that happen for 70 years. President Obama got it done. Since March 23. 2010. every family with insurance has gained important new protections. and by 2014 the law will make sure all Americans have access to affordable health insurance.