[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 172 (Thursday, November 19, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2812]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE FOR AMERICA ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Saturday, November 7, 2009

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, the Affordable Health Care for America Act 
will strengthen America and offer greater security to our workers, 
families, seniors and businesses. It will enhance our Nation's health 
care system, placing American healthcare consumers where they belong: 
at the heart of it. H.R. 3962 will improve quality, choice and 
competition, while cutting down fraud, waste and abuse, and lowering 
costs over the long term. It will strengthen Medicare, eliminate the 
Part D ``donut hole,'' improve access for lower income citizens so that 
Medicare is affordable for ALL seniors, and create new consumer 
protections for Medicare Advantage Plans. Discrimination for pre-
existing conditions, dropped coverage, and yearly or lifetime caps will 
no longer be tolerated. Co-pays and other cost-sharing for preventative 
services will be eliminated and annual caps on what an individual or a 
family pays out-of-pocket will be established.
  Since 1987, the cost of the average family health insurance policy 
has risen from 7 percent of median family income to 17 percent. Family 
premiums are projected to increase an average of $1,800 each year and 
in 2007, 60 percent of bankruptcies were reported to be related to 
medical costs. With this bill, no American family will go bankrupt 
because they get sick.
  Sixty percent of our Nation's entire uninsured population are small 
business owners and their employees and families. This equals at least 
28 million uninsured Americans. Small business premiums have risen 129 
percent since 2000. In 2008, 38 percent of small companies offered 
health coverage, compared with 41 percent in 2007 and 61 percent in 
1993.
  For too long, the health of our Nation has dwindled while the pockets 
of the insurance giants have thickened. Our seniors have compromised 
prescription drugs for necessary groceries, while the pharmaceutical 
industry has made record profits. Hard working families have watched 
their savings plummet and their homes foreclosed after unexpected 
illnesses. Women with breast cancer, men with heart disease and 
children with leukemia or childhood diabetes have been flat-out denied 
health insurance coverage for pre-existing conditions or reaching 
insurance policy caps.
  Under the House Plan, the Ninth Congressional District of Ohio, the 
region I represent, will benefit immensely and in very specific ways:
  386,000 residents will see improved employer-based coverage
  167,000 households would be eligible for credits to help pay for 
coverage
  38,000 uninsured citizens just in our region would be eligible for 
insurance under a reformed system
  14,500 small businesses will be allowed to obtain affordable health 
care coverage and 12,400 among them will receive tax credits to help 
reduce the costs of health insurance
  102,000 beneficiaries will benefit from an improved Medicare program
  7,600 seniors will benefit from closing the prescription drug donut 
hole, starting with $500 of cost forgiveness in 2010
  1,700 families will be protected from bankruptcy due to unaffordable 
health care costs
  $120 million in savings will be seen by hospitals and health care 
providers as a result of reductions in uncompensated care.
  Under this bill, immediately, the uninsured and seniors will receive 
relief through a temporary insurance program. Individuals receiving 
COBRA will be allowed to keep their coverage until a more customer 
friendly, one-stop marketplace for health insurance, known as the 
Exchange, is created. The Exchange will offer affordability credits and 
tax credits for individuals and businesses that need them. Health plans 
will be required to allow young people until their 27th birthday to 
remain on their parents' health insurance policy. Moreover, insurance 
companies will be subject to public review and disclosure of insurance 
excessive rate increases.
  Much needed investments will be made right away in training programs 
designed to increase the number of primary care doctors, nurses, and 
public health professionals. Not-for-Profit purchasing collaboratives, 
such as the FrontPath Health Coalition from Northwest Ohio, will be 
strengthened to achieve careful plan management and cost-savings, and 
encouraged as a central provision of Title I. Community Health Centers 
will see an increase in funding to allow for a doubling of patients 
over the next 5 years. A $10 billion fund will be created to finance a 
temporary reinsurance program to help offset the costs of expensive 
health claims for employers that provide health benefits for retirees 
age 55-64.
  The well being of individuals and our nation will benefit from these 
reforms. From an economic standpoint, healthcare costs have stifled the 
vitality of American businesses and their ability to compete in the 
global marketplace. The 129 percent increase since 2000 in small 
business premiums alone have smothered their potential and destroyed 
their ability to cover employees, resulting in an astounding 60 percent 
of our Nation's entire uninsured population.
  Affordable health insurance reform is necessary to cut the costs of 
doing business, reduce the share of government expenditures spent on 
health care, help our companies to be more competitive in the world 
market, unleash the entrepreneurial talents of the American people, and 
give peace of mind to the middle class and our seniors and others that 
everything they have worked for will not be taken away if they get 
sick.
  As someone who grew up in a small business family, I watched our 
father forced to sell our small family grocery when he became ill. He 
needed health insurance for our family and took a job at a local auto 
assembly plant to obtain it for his wife and children. I promised 
myself when I was elected to Congress that passing legislation to cover 
small business would be one of my top priorities. Finally, it has 
become possible to vote on a bill that will do this for millions of our 
fellow citizens.
  With the mounting economic strain on American families and the rising 
costs of health insurance to workers, businesses and federal budget, 
the status quo has proven itself unsustainable, fiscally irresponsible 
and morally unacceptable. The time has come for this historical change. 
I stand in support of its promise to the American people.

                          ____________________