[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 152 (Wednesday, October 12, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1837-E1838]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           RECOGNIZING THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF LISA CODISPOTI

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 12, 2011

  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remember Lisa Codispoti, 
a dynamic and talented champion for better health care who, tragically, 
lost her battle with her own personal health care challenges last week.
  A senior counsel for the National Women's Law Center, Lisa was well-
known on Capitol Hill. You could always count on Lisa for an on-target 
analysis of an arcane policy question or a suggestion for a creative 
way to overcome any one of the many obstacles we faced in winning 
health care reform. My staff and I relied on her for so much, and we 
were far from the only Congressional office that did so.
  Lisa was also a hero to health care advocates around the country. As 
Rachel DeGolia, executive director of the Universal Health Care Action 
Network said of her, ``The movement for health care justice, and for 
justice of all kinds for women, has lost a wonderful champion and 
friend.''
  Lisa's influence was broad and important. They may not have known 
Lisa personally, but millions of Americans are better off today because 
of her. Her work is evident throughout the Patient Protection and 
Affordable Care Act. As a result of the law she helped to fashion and 
then enact, being a woman will no longer be a pre-existing condition. 
People with existing health problems will no longer face job-lock or 
the pain of knowing that their condition is raising premiums for their 
co-workers. Coverage will no longer be denied or lifetime limits 
imposed. These are very real improvements that will make tangible 
differences in people's lives.
  As her blog post below shows so clearly, this was not a theoretical 
exercise for Lisa. She lived her entire adult life knowing the 
significant problems that the private insurance market creates for 
anyone living with a health care condition--big or small. Her 
understanding and her experience made her arguments even more 
compelling and more effective.
  We are better off for having known and worked with Lisa Codispoti. 
Her eloquence and knowledge, combined with her optimistic and gracious 
spirit, will be deeply missed.

The Health Care Law: Provides New Peace of Mind for Millions of People 
                With Chronic Health Conditions--Like Me

                          (By Lisa Codispoti)

       For many health care advocates, the fight for the health 
     care law is more than just a job--it's personal. I was just a 
     sophomore in college when I was diagnosed with a chronic 
     condition that would require lifelong medical treatment. At a 
     time when most college students believe they are invincible, 
     my parents and I were consumed with issues like, would my 
     life-saving medical treatment--which would be necessary for 
     the rest of my life--be covered by insurance, and if so, 
     would they cover my treatment at school five-hours away from 
     my home? And what would happen when I graduated? Would I be 
     able to find a job that had decent health insurance? And what 
     if I decided to go to graduate school? In short, in addition 
     to worrying about my newly diagnosed condition, health 
     insurance was something I had to worry about. A lot. In fact, 
     it has been a recurrent worry throughout the last 28 years 
     since I was diagnosed. What is proper etiquette when 
     receiving a job offer to try to figure out if the insurance 
     they offer is good enough to cover your needed medical 
     treatment? Will you doom a small employer's health insurance 
     premiums with huge cost increases once you are added to their 
     workforce? How to explain to others offering to hire you 
     that, thanks anyway, you couldn't possibly open your own 
     consulting gig because you wouldn't be able to get health 
     insurance on your own?
       That's why for me--and millions of Americans living with a 
     chronic health condition--passage of the Affordable Care Act 
     provides such peace of mind. And while I've been very lucky 
     over the last three decades to have jobs with decent 
     insurance, I wonder what kinds of different opportunities I 
     might have pursued had I not been so worried about finding 
     and keeping health insurance coverage. And still, there are 
     opponents of the law who want to repeal it and have stated 
     that the ``private market'' would somehow magically take care 
     of these problems. Right. Like the private market has done so 
     well for insurance for decades now. Like how the private 
     market has created conditions where women can't find 
     insurance at any price that includes coverage of a basic 
     health care service like maternity. Or allows insurance 
     companies to charge women more than men just because of their 
     gender.
       Some opponents of the law have said that there could be 
     high risk pools for people like me who can't get coverage due 
     to a pre-existing condition. To an insurance company 
     executive, that sounds like a dream come true. After all, 
     insurance companies have been rejecting people from coverage 
     due to pre-existing conditions without accountability or

[[Page E1838]]

     recourse for decades. But we're not just talking the serious 
     stuff like breast cancer or heart disease--we're talking 
     about previously having had a c-section. Or acne. Should 
     someone who is rejected by an insurance company because they 
     had acne be in a high risk insurance pool? All that does is 
     incentivize insurance companies to reject even more people 
     and fight over the remaining cream of the insurance risk pool 
     crop: healthy, young people. And thus further incentivize 
     insurers to reject people they deem not worth the risk (ie: a 
     risk to their high profits).
       Already the Affordable Care Act is helping millions of 
     Americans living with a chronic health condition like me. And 
     for us, 2014 can't come fast enough because that's when the 
     majority of the Affordable Care Act provisions come into 
     effect. The thought that some would want take this law away--
     and the peace of mind that comes with it--is maddening to me. 
     Is the law a cure for all the problems of our current health 
     care system? Of course not. Could the law be better? 
     Absolutely--I could point you to several places. But to 
     repeal the whole thing? No way. We can't go back. I know I've 
     waited 28+ years for this law--and there are millions who 
     have waited far longer.
       That's why today I'm one of millions saying, Happy 
     Anniversary to the Affordable Care Act; here's to many more 
     years to come.

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