[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 6 (Tuesday, January 10, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H241]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
              DANGERS OF REPEALING THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Connecticut (Ms. Esty) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. ESTY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to encourage my colleagues to put 
people before politics. As we speak, the Senate is moving to strip 
millions of families of their healthcare coverage and replace it with, 
well, nothing.
  Now, I know that some of my colleagues ran on a platform of repealing 
the Affordable Care Act, and now they feel boxed in by politics. But 
let's be very clear about this. The political stakes of repealing the 
Affordable Care Act without a replacement are nothing compared to the 
terrible human cost.
  I would like to share with my colleagues the experience of Suzie 
Clayton, my constituent from North Canaan, Connecticut. ``The ACA had a 
huge, positive impact on my life,'' Suzie wrote to me last week. 
Because Suzie is a breast cancer survivor, a preexisting condition, it 
was nearly impossible for her to get decent healthcare coverage before 
the ACA.
  ``All that we had put away in retirement funds, nearly $70,000, had 
to be tapped in order to cover our health costs,'' she wrote. If it 
weren't for the coverage she gained through the Affordable Care Act, 
she and her husband would have lost everything they had worked for, 
quite likely, including their home.
  Instead, with the ACA, her family is once again saving for 
retirement, completing some overdue home repairs, and getting their 
medical needs taken care of at an affordable price. All of that will go 
away if this House follows through on its political crusade to wipe 
away the Affordable Care Act without a replacement.
  Mr. Speaker, there are millions of Suzie Claytons in this country, 
millions of people who will lose their homes, lose their savings, and 
some will even lose their lives if this Congress repeals the Affordable 
Care Act without a replacement.
  In my home State of Connecticut alone, 180,000 people who have gained 
coverage since the ACA was implemented stand to lose their health care. 
That includes 43,000 children.
  Think about that for a moment. If Congress repeals the ACA and 
doesn't replace it with anything, 43,000 children just in my State will 
lose their health coverage. When those children get sick, too many of 
their parents will be faced with a heart-wrenching choice: bankrupt the 
family to pay for their child's medical care or go without the health 
services their child needs to get better. All of us here who are 
parents know that that isn't really a choice.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues who are beating the drum for 
wholesale elimination of the Affordable Care Act: How can you, in good 
conscience, take away the health care from 43,000 children in my State 
just to score a political point? How can you throw our healthcare 
system into chaos just because you are in a political jam?
  Let's work together. Let's work together to improve our healthcare 
system. Let's forge a sensible, bipartisan approach to lower healthcare 
costs and ensure access to quality care for everyone.
  The politics of ObamaCare, no matter how fraught and divisive, should 
not, must not take priority over the well-being of the American people 
that we are here to serve.

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