[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 40 (Wednesday, March 16, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1710-S1711]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

  Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I take this time to reflect with my 
colleagues and say that we celebrate today the 1-year anniversary of 
the passage of the Affordable Care Act, and to reflect how much 
happened to improve health care in America since the passage of the 
Affordable Care Act.
  We have reason to celebrate. If you are a senior in the Medicare 
Program, and you now know that you can see your primary care doctor 
every year for an annual wellness exam, and that wellness exam will now 
be covered under Medicare, and you will have an opportunity to meet 
with your doctor and take charge of your own health, you have a reason 
to celebrate passage of the Affordable Care Act.
  If you are a senior who happens to fall within the coverage gap under 
the prescription drug benefits in Medicare, the so-called doughnut 
hole, and you have been forced at times to leave prescriptions on the 
counter of a drugstore because you could not afford to pay the cost of 
the prescription, and you now know that there is coverage in Medicare 
if you fall within that gap--for last year, 3.2 million seniors who 
fell within the gap received a $250 check. This year, the seniors who 
fall within this coverage gap will receive a 50-percent discount on 
their brandname drugs. Next year, their benefit will be worth as much 
as $2,400 and, by 2020, we will close the gap entirely, all as a result 
of the passage of the Affordable Care Act. So you have reason to 
celebrate that Congress finally got the job done.
  If you are an American family, like many, and you celebrate your 
child's graduation from college, only to find that your child could no 
longer be covered under your health insurance policy because of the age 
restriction, and now you learn that Congress has changed that age to 
26, so you can keep your youngster under your family insurance program, 
and that child now has health insurance, and you are one of 1.2 million 
people who benefit from this provision that was in the Affordable Care 
Act, you have reason to celebrate the passage of the Affordable Care 
Act.
  If you are a small business owner who can now afford to cover your 
employees because of the small business tax credit that was included in 
the Affordable Care Act--4 million eligible institutions will be 
eligible for that tax credit, and soon you will be able to get 
competitive rates. Small businesses today pay 20 percent more for the 
same coverage large companies have. Congress took action last year to 
eliminate that disparity. If you are one of those small business owners 
now benefiting from that tax credit or who will benefit from more 
competitive rates and better choice, you have reason to celebrate the 
passage of the Affordable Care Act.
  If you happen to be a consumer of health insurance, as almost all of 
us are, and you want value for your premium dollar, you now know that 
with passage of the Affordable Care Act, the lion's share of your 
health premiums must go for health benefits, reining in the excessive 
administrative costs of private insurance companies, and you know now 
that Congress has taken action to prevent the abusive practices of 
private insurance companies, you have reason to celebrate the passage 
of the Affordable Care Act.
  If you happen to be the woman in Maryland, who was hiking in the 
mountains of West Virginia and fell off a cliff, was unconscious, and 
was flown to the closest emergency room to receive care and was denied 
coverage because she did not call ahead for preauthorization, you have 
a reason to celebrate the enactment of the Affordable Care Act.
  Yes, insurance companies have denied coverage for emergency care 
because of requirements for preauthorization or have denied coverage 
because the ultimate diagnosis did not meet their standard for 
reimbursement, even though your symptoms indicated you should seek 
emergency care. I started working on that issue in 1995, known as the 
prudent layperson's standards for requiring insurance companies to 
reimburse their policyholders for visits to emergency rooms, where 
their symptoms indicated they should go to the emergency room.
  In 1997, Medicare and Medicaid were changed in order to provide for 
the prudent layperson's standard for reimbursement. Now all insurance 
companies must comply with that standard because of the passage of the 
Affordable Care Act.
  If you are a parent who has a child who has asthma or you have been 
told that the insurance company won't provide full coverage because of 
your child's preexisting condition, and now you can get full coverage 
for your child, you too have a reason to celebrate the passage of the 
Affordable Care Act.
  If you are an adult and have been told you cannot get insurance 
because of a preexisting condition, such as high blood pressure, or you 
happen to be like a couple from Montgomery County, MD, who had to get 
two separate insurance policies because of preexisting conditions, 
paying two separate premiums and two separate deductibles, and now you 
know you can get one insurance plan that will cover your family, you 
have a reason to celebrate, because that too was corrected by the 
Affordable Care Act that was passed by Congress 1 year ago.
  If you happen to be a taxpayer who is concerned about the fiscal 
soundness of Medicare or the budget deficit, you too have a reason to 
celebrate enactment of the Affordable Care Act, because the Affordable 
Care Act extended the solvency of the Medicare system by 12 years, 
putting it on a safer basis, making it less vulnerable for our budget.
  The enactment of the Affordable Care Act reduced the Federal budget 
deficit by over $100 billion during the first 10 years, and over $1.5 
trillion during the first 20 years. This is because, quite frankly, 
this bill manages illness much more cost effectively. It uses health 
information technology more effectively and it invests in wellness, and 
it brings down the cost. That is not what this

[[Page S1711]]

Senator is saying has been established; it is what the CBO has told us 
will bring in savings on our budget deficit. Taxpayers have a reason to 
celebrate the enactment of the Affordable Care Act.

  There is one other reason to celebrate the year's anniversary of the 
enactment of this legislation. Let me give one more example. A couple 
of weeks ago I was at the Greater Baden Health Center located about 7 
or 8 miles from where we are today. They are doing something about the 
infant mortality rate in our community. We have too high of an infant 
mortality rate because of low birth weight babies. Some do not survive 
and become part of our infant mortality numbers in America where we are 
much higher than we should be. Others survive and have complications 
that need to be addressed by our health care system, making it 
challenging for the infant and expensive for our society.
  At the Greater Baden Health Center, they are doing something about 
that situation. They are expanding their qualified health center to 
include prenatal care so pregnant women can get the type of attention 
they need to have healthy babies. That money comes from the Affordable 
Care Act because of the expansion of our qualified health centers.
  We all celebrate what we are able to accomplish. It will keep our 
children healthier and save us money and have less use of the emergency 
rooms by expanding care at our qualified centers.
  Madam President, if you are concerned about health disparities in 
America--and you have reason to be--minorities are two times more 
likely to suffer from diabetes and 33 percent more likely to die from 
heart disease. In the African-American community, the infant mortality 
rate is 2.3 times higher than the White community. When we look at the 
number of people who have access to health care and health insurance, 
the minority population represents one-third. Yet they are one-half of 
the people who do not have health insurance.
  I think we all agree that we need to do something about that 
situation. That is not right in our sense of fairness. But let me give 
one more reason it will save us money.
  A study done at Johns Hopkins University and the University of 
Maryland points out that we can save $260 billion in excess direct 
medical care costs if we can deal with the minority health disparities. 
We had done something about that in the Affordable Care Act. An 
amendment that I was proud to offer established the Institute for 
Minority Health and Health Disparities within the National Institutes 
of Health. We have developed minority health and disparity offices in 
each of our agencies that deal with health care to do something about 
health disparities in America. We can all celebrate that we are able to 
move that forward in the Affordable Care Act.
  We should all take pride that America at long last, after decades of 
unsuccessful attempts, has acted. Health care is a right, not a 
privilege. As our dear friend, the late Senator Kennedy, said: We no 
longer have a sick care system. We have taken action to include all 
under health care in America.
  I understand the Republicans in the House want to repeal each and 
every one of these improvements and accomplishments. They offer no hope 
of taking up these issues in a serious manner during this Congress. 
Speaking on behalf of our seniors, speaking on behalf of our small 
business owners, speaking on behalf of the consumers of health 
insurance in America, speaking on behalf of what is right, as far as 
covering and making sure everyone has access to affordable care, we do 
not want to see that happen. We do not want to move backwards. We have 
reason to celebrate the accomplishments of moving forward with health 
care. We want to move forward, not back, and continue to build on an 
American health care system that provides affordable quality care to 
all Americans.
  Madam President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a 
quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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