[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 65 (Thursday, May 12, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H3226]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                         HEALTH CARE REFORM LAW

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Connecticut (Mr. Courtney) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to share with the House a headline 
which was reported in yesterday's Connecticut media, which I believe is 
going to reverberate all across the country. It reads that, ``As 
Federal Health Reforms Take Effect, Aetna Proposes Rate Cuts.''
  Now, for employers who have been seeing double-digit increases for 
the last decade, to see a headline that says health insurance premiums 
are going to be cut probably seems like it must be a typo or there must 
be some April Fool's headline joke. But the fact of the matter is, as 
that story indicates, because of the Federal health care reform law, 
the new premiums which are going to go into effect in September that 
Aetna is proposing have to be reduced anywhere from 5 percent to 19 
percent. For policyholders, the savings with these new premium 
announcements will be up to $3,500 a year on policies that cost about 
$14,000 today.
  Why is this happening? It is because the health care reform law 
contains a provision which says that insurers must demonstrate that up 
to 80 to 85 percent of premium dollars have to be spent on health care. 
It is called the medical loss ratio rule. And under existing premiums 
that Aetna is collecting these days, only 54 percent of premium dollars 
are presently being paid on health care.
  Now, again, as someone who was a small employer before I came to 
Congress in 2007 and paid those double-digit increases year in and year 
out, what we are seeing now is the fact that there is transparency in 
terms of how premiums are being handled and that people are now 
understanding and, in fact, regulators are enforcing a rule which says 
that when you pay health insurance premiums, not all of it, but the 
bulk of it has to be spent on health care. And because of this medical 
loss ratio rule, we saw yesterday that Aetna is proposing to cut health 
insurance premiums for employers. And this is going to be replicated 
all across the country over the upcoming year as the Department of 
Health and Human Services is issuing these rules to State insurance 
departments for implementation.
  Thank goodness for those employers who are now going to be seeing 
real rate relief that we did not repeal the health care reform law. 
Thank goodness for those employers who are getting small business tax 
credits back in the mail today for their IRS filings that they 
submitted this year that we did not repeal the health care reform law. 
Thank goodness for all the employers across America who are now 
participating in the early retiree health insurance reform program, 
which over half the Fortune 500 companies in America have signed up for 
as a way of moderating early retiree health insurance costs so that 
they can encourage employees 55 and up to take retirement, opening up 
opportunities for younger workers in this country, which we desperately 
need, looking at graduating classes that are facing daunting employment 
prospects.
  The fact of the matter is the health care reform law in terms of 
small business tax credits, real rate cut relief, early retiree 
programs that help employment-based health benefits is now rippling 
through the system and providing help for thousands and thousands of 
employers all across this country.
  We know now that the health care reform law is helping almost 1 
million young Americans between the ages of 21 and 26 stay on their 
parents' health insurance plan.
  I was with a student up at the University of Connecticut the other 
day. His sister was months away from graduating from NYU when she was 
diagnosed with a rare nerve disorder. And thank goodness for the health 
insurance reform law that she was able to stay on her parents' health 
care plan. Now she is receiving lifesaving treatments that are going to 
allow her to attend law school starting next year.
  For seniors we are seeing the new Medicare provisions that will close 
the doughnut hole, that will provide preventive services like annual 
checkups, cancer screenings that are now covered 100 percent by the 
Medicare program as a direct result of the health care reform law. 
These benefits are now flowing through the system with a bill that was 
fiscally responsible and that CBO scored as a net saver to America's 
budget deficit.
  Again, I want to make sure people see this headline that employer-
based premiums are going down because of the health care reform law 
provisions that will protect employers and individuals who buy health 
insurance, so that their premium dollar is actually going to be spent 
on health care and not on excessive administrative costs and bonuses 
for people in the insurance industry.
  Again, I come from Connecticut. We are proud of the insurance 
industry. My dad worked as an insurance company lawyer his whole 
lifetime and sent me to college because of that.

  The fact of the matter is these rules are something that the 
insurance industry can coexist with, they can make a health profit, 
they can grow their business, but it will stabilize the market so that 
people are not going to be forced to abandon coverage for their workers 
and for themselves because of the skyrocketing double-digit increases 
that we have been experiencing as a Nation for far too long. We have 
relief in sight, and this headline verifies that.
  Let's preserve these protections and make sure that our employers and 
individuals have access to affordable health care.

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