[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 43 (Friday, March 22, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2320-S2321]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
AFFORDABLE CARE ACT ANNIVERSARY
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, three years ago tomorrow, President Obama
signed into law the Affordable Care Act. This landmark law will extend
health insurance coverage to millions of uninsured Americans when the
reforms are fully implemented next year. Getting to this point has been
an arduous process. But in the end, this achievement proved that real
reform is possible, and that the voices of so many Americans who over
the years have called on their leaders to act have finally been heard.
Since its passage, Americans have seen the immediate benefits of the
Affordable Care Act and 3 years later, those improvements continue.
Seniors on Medicare who have high-cost prescriptions are continuing to
receive help when trapped within the coverage gap known as the doughnut
hole. The Affordable Care Act completely closes the coverage gap by
2020, and the new law makes it easier for seniors to afford
prescription drugs in the meantime. In 2010, more than 7,000 Vermonters
received a $250 rebate to help cover the cost of their prescription
drugs when they hit the doughnut hole. Last year alone, nearly 6,400
Vermonters with Medicare received a 50-percent discount on their
covered brand-name prescriptions, resulting in an average savings of
$765 per person. Since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law,
more than 5,000 young adults in Vermont have gained health insurance
coverage under these reforms, which allow young adults to stay on their
parents' plans until their 26th birthdays. The improvements we are
seeing in Vermont go on and on: in 2011 and 2012, 71 million Americans
and 151,000 Vermonters with private insurance gained access to and
received preventative screening coverage with no deductible or copay,
including more than 80,000 Medicare beneficiaries. These are just a few
of the dozens of consumer protections included in the law that are
benefiting Vermonters and all Americans every day, and in many ways.
The law goes into full swing next year as even more consumer
protections are implemented and millions more Americans gain access to
health insurance coverage. Beginning in January, insurance companies
will no longer be allowed to deny coverage to individuals with
preexisting health conditions or to charge higher premiums based on
health status or gender. Unfortunately, estimates show that 44,000
Vermonters currently do not have health insurance, but with the
Medicaid expansion contained in the Affordable Care Act, 84 percent of
these Vermonters will qualify for Medicaid or a premium tax credit.
Also important to Vermonters, to assist Vermont with our State's work
on implementing Vermont's State-based health insurance exchange--or
marketplace--Vermont has received more than $125,000,000 in grants for
research and for information technology development, as well as almost
$3,480,000 for maternal health programs. These tangible initiatives
help at-risk families gain the support they need to improve their
children's health and ability to learn, and they help prevent child
abuse.
I was proud as well to work with Senator Grassley and others to
include strong anti-fraud provisions in the law that already have
helped prevent and detect fraudulent activities that in the past have
cost American taxpayers multiple millions of dollars each year. Thanks
in part to these efforts, $4.2 billion was returned to taxpayers last
year alone.
In only 3 years, Vermonters across our State have seen the many
benefits of health care reform unfold in their lives. I see and hear
about these improvements and pocketbook savings in visits to every
corner of our State. At home in Middlesex and throughout Vermont,
whether I am in the grocery store, at the gas pump, or at church, I am
constantly reminded of how important access to quality affordable
health care is to individuals and families. I applaud Vermont's efforts
to expand the Affordable Care Act's reach even further to help every
resident secure health insurance. I am proud that the Affordable Care
Act offers Vermont the foundation it needs to reach this goal, and I
look forward to working to see that it is met.
Regrettably, opponents of the Affordable Care Act continue to
misleadingly attack the law in an attempt to undermine its
implementation. The moment President Obama signed this bill into law,
opponents sought to continue their political battle by challenging the
landmark legislation in the courts. With the legal challenges now
nearly resolved, we are now seeing amendments filed to every bill we
consider on the floor, aimed at repealing or gutting the Affordable
Care Act. In fact, on the budget resolution we are considering today,
dozens of amendments have been filed in an effort to block the
Affordable Care Act's implementation, to undermine its success in
making lives better across the land, or to repeal the law completely.
This is unfortunate, it is shortsighted, and it is cynical. Even more
shameful is the budget resolution considered and passed by the House
this week. The House-passed budget would make drastic changes to the
Medicaid Program causing 14 to 20 million Americans to lose health
coverage; it would replace Medicare with a voucher scheme costing
seniors at least $6000 more per year; and would completely repeal all
the consumer protections included in the Affordable Care Act.
The Affordable Care Act is not perfect, but in the true interests of
the
[[Page S2321]]
people we represent we should be working together to ensure its
success. We can make improvements where necessary, but we must allow
full implementation to continue. Already the Affordable Care Act has
changed so many lives for the better, and we must not turn our backs on
the millions more who will have access to health care next year because
of these reforms.
The Affordable Care Act is a tremendous achievement that will improve
the lives of Americans for generations to come. This anniversary is a
time to renew our commitment to completing this important work on
behalf of the American people, who are counting on us to do the right
thing. With each year that we move forward to implement the features of
this landmark health care reform law, the stories of families not being
able to gain access to affordable coverage are becoming fewer and fewer
and are being replaced by stories of the success of these reforms, one
family at a time, all across Vermont and all across America. I look
forward to continuing to work with Vermont and with the administration
as the law moves forward in its fourth year.
____________________