[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 21, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H1439]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           HEALTH CARE REFORM

  (Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from New York for 
yielding time. I'm proud to stand with her and with other Democratic 
Members in support of women's access to comprehensive, affordable 
health care, access that was greatly expanded by the Affordable Care 
Act which passed 2 years ago this week and which my Republican 
colleagues want to repeal.
  Thanks to health care reform, over 13 million previously uninsured 
women will gain access to health insurance. Thanks to health reform, 
insurance companies will no longer be allowed to discriminate against 
women by charging them higher premiums than men for the same exact 
policy or by denying them coverage altogether simply because they are 
women. Thanks to health care reform, millions of women with private 
insurance will no longer have to pay for preventive services like 
mammograms, cervical cancer screening, contraception, and a host of 
other services.
  As a dad of three daughters, as a grandfather of two granddaughters, 
and as a great grandfather of one great granddaughter, I am glad we did 
that. And thanks to the Affordable Care Act, preventive services are 
already free for Medicare beneficiaries.
  If I had the time, I'd say the other benefits of this bill that we 
ought to keep, and I will not join my friend from New Hampshire in 
trying to repeal a provision of this act.

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