[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 20 (Thursday, February 5, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E168-E169]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 596, REPEAL OF THE PATIENT 
                   PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 3, 2015

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 596 a bill 
to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
  This is the 56th attempt by House Republicans to repeal the 
Affordable Care Act.
  After 55 attempts it was my hope that this new Congress would begin 
its work in a more productive manner. We should be addressing the need 
to eliminate sequestration, the importance of raising the minimum wage, 
provide universal access to child care, and the passage of a jobs bill 
that rebuilds our nation's infrastructure.
  Instead we continue to waste precious legislative time on fighting 
this effort to hurting Americans who need affordable, assessable and 
available healthcare.
  The Affordable Care Act is the law of the land. Instead of attempting 
to repeal and undermine this law, we should use our time to work 
together to make improvements where necessary and ensure its smooth 
implementation.
  Many of those most in need of the healthcare coverage provided by the 
Affordable Care Act live in the Districts of many members on both sides 
of this argument. Texas, my own state, leads the list of states with 
the highest percentages of uninsured residents.
  Those states with the highest percentage of uninsured base on a 
report by the Bureau of the Census ``Health Insurance Coverage in the 
United States:
  Texas with 22.1 percent, Florida with 20.0 percent, Nevada with 20.7 
percent, Georgia with 18.8 percent, Alaska with 18.5 percent, Oklahoma 
with 17.7 percent, and Arizona with 17.1 percent.
  The highest concentration of the uninsured is the poor. The 
Affordable Care Act provides to states at no cost options for residents 
to enroll in healthcare programs through Medicaid. Unfortunately, some 
states like my state of Texas has rejected this important component of 
the Affordable Care Act for those in the state in most need of 
healthcare.
  Other states that have not adopted the provisions of the law that 
expand Medicaid include Texas, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South 
Carolina, Louisiana, Alaska, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Kansas, Montana, 
Idaho, Utah, Missouri, Virginia, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Nebraska, 
Wyoming and Maine.
  Instead of focusing on protecting and caring for the health of our 
constituents, we are allowing partisan games to interfere with serving 
the best interest of our Districts.
  There are 20 days before enrollment in the online Marketplaces will 
begin, the House majority is bringing this bill to deter the 
implementation of this key provision of the Affordable Care Act.
  This latest attempt to prevent implementation of Obamacare would stop 
any premium tax credits from being provided until the HHS Inspector 
General Office certifies there is a program in place that 
``successfully and consistently verifies'' household income and 
coverage requirements for those applying for these credits.
  Conveniently, there is no way that this new requirement would be met 
in a timely fashion because the HHS IG office does not have the 
resources, staff or expertise to undertake such a certification. 
Therefore, since the new requirement will likely not be met, the 
Affordable Care Act will be drastically inhibited.
  The impact of the enactment of this GOP bill would be to delay 
millions of qualified Americans from getting health coverage. The new 
requirement would deny millions of our hard-working constituents from 
getting the premium tax credits they are clearly eligible for beginning 
on January 1, 2014.
  This is how the income verification program under the HHS regulations 
works to hinder the Affordable Care Act.
  To get tax credits to make their health insurance affordable, 
individuals will have to submit their projected annual household 
income.
  All income data submitted through the Marketplaces will be checked 
with IRS data, Social Security data, and current wage information.
  If there is an inconsistency between income projection claims and 
proven past income, the Marketplaces will require additional 
documentation from applicants.
  In addition, Marketplaces will check employer coverage information 
from the applicant and their employer against data from the: Office of 
Personnel Management and the SHOP Marketplaces (where available) as 
well as other data sources approved by HHS to verify eligibility for 
the tax credits.
  If applicant information and other data do not match, the 
Marketplaces will ask for further supporting documentation.
  Furthermore, all payments of premium tax credits are reconciled by 
IRS the following year. The income data submitted is reconciled against 
the actual wages and health coverage information on the individual's 
income tax return. If there is an inconsistency, the applicant pays 
back the excess, subject to statutory limit. There is l00% income 
verification and reconciliation on this back-end.
  I cannot understand the continuous rejection by the Republicans 
against the Affordable Care act when the idea of everyone paying 
something towards their healthcare was a Republican idea put into 
practice in the State of Massachusetts by the former Republican 
presidential candidate, Mitt Romney.

[[Page E169]]

  Instead of focusing on the issues that the American people want 
addressed--we are having the same discussion to repeal the Affordable 
Care Act in efforts of my colleagues to repeal, obstruct and undermine 
this law. What is even more frustrating is that while there is so much 
energy in trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act, there has been no 
plan or suggestions posed on how to replace it.
  I want to once again highlight the benefits of the Affordable Care 
Act so we can once in for all end the attempts to try and repeal this 
law that benefits so many Americans. Because of the Affordable Care 
Act, Americans are already seeing lower costs, better coverage, and 
patient protections that Republicans want to repeal:
  13 million Americans benefited from $1.1 billion in rebates sent to 
them from their health insurance companies last year.
  105 million Americans have access to free preventive services, 
including 71 million Americans in private plans and 34 million seniors 
on Medicare.
  Millions of women began receiving free coverage for comprehensive 
women's preventive services in August 2012.
  100 million Americans no longer have a life-time limit on healthcare 
coverage.
  Nearly 17 million children with pre-existing conditions can no longer 
be denied coverage by insurers.
  6.6 million young-adults up to age 26 have health insurance through 
their parents' plan, half of whom would be uninsured without this 
coverage.
  6.3 million Seniors in the `donut hole' have already saved $6.1 
billion on their prescription drugs.
  3.2 million Seniors have access to free annual wellness visits under 
Medicare, and
  360,000 small employers have already taken advantage of the Small 
Business Health Care Tax Credit to provide health insurance to 2 
million workers.
  Because of the Affordable Care Act 3.8 million people in Texas--
including 2.2 million seniors on Medicare now receive preventative care 
services. Over 7 million Texans no longer have to fear lifetime limits 
on their healthcare insurance. Texas parents of 300,731 young adults 
can sleep easier at night knowing that their children can remain on 
their health insurance until age 26.
  The protection provided by this law is a guarantee to 5 million Texas 
residents that their insurance companies will spend 80 percent of their 
premium dollars on healthcare, or customers will get a rebate from 
their insurance company.
  In my state, there are 4,029 people who had no insurance because of 
pre-existing conditions, but today the Affordable Care Act has provided 
them with access to coverage. The Affordable Care Act means that many 
Texans are free of worry about having access to healthcare insurance.
  However, the list of benefits from the Affordable Care Act is not 
completed. In 2014, the Affordable Care Act's final provisions will 
become available to our citizens. Insurance companies will be banned 
from: discriminating against anyone with a pre-existing condition, 
charging higher rates based on gender or health status, enforcing 
lifetime dollar limits, enforcing annual dollar limits on health 
benefits.
  In 2014, access to affordable healthcare for the self employed or 
those who decide to purchase their own coverage will be easier because 
of Affordable Insurance Exchanges. There will be a one stop marketplace 
where consumers can do what Federal employees have done for decades--
purchase insurance at reasonable rates from an insurer of their choice. 
This will assure that health care consumers can get the care that they 
need from the medical professionals they trust.
  This Congress has work that needs to be done, and it has work that 
should be taken up to restore workers, their families and communities 
to sound economic health, not play partisan political games.
  I urge my Colleagues to put partisan politics aside and join me in 
voting no on the passage of this bill.

                          ____________________