[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 9 (Friday, January 13, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H535]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1600
                   SUPPORT OF THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

  (Mr. EVANS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, I stood in the well of this House some days 
ago, when I was sworn in, and basically said that I am not naive.
  Today, I rise in support of the Affordable Care Act and oppose any 
effort to repeal it, which just took place. Since the ACA was enacted 
in 2010, the uninsured rate in Pennsylvania has fallen by 37 percent. 
Additionally, millions more Pennsylvanians, who would otherwise be 
uninsured, have coverage with an employer, Medicaid, individual market, 
or Medicare coverage as a result of the new protections provided by the 
law.
  No matter what lens you look through, Pennsylvanians and individuals 
throughout our Nation have better health coverage and care today as a 
result of the ACA. Let us keep moving forward and help our communities 
have healthcare access, quality, and affordability.
  Recently, our Pennsylvania Governor, Tom Wolf, sent a letter to 
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy to underscore the importance of 
furthering access to care, keeping prices affordable and spending in 
check, and improving health care for those in our home State of 
Pennsylvania.
  Just in Pennsylvania alone, we have had over 670,000 individuals who 
have enrolled in HealthChoices, Pennsylvania's mandatory managed care 
Medicaid program. That is 670,000 individuals who previously did not 
have access to quality of care.
  We do not need the rhetoric of repeal and replace.

                                     Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,


                                       Office of the Governor,

                                Harrisburg, PA, December 20, 2016.
     Hon. Kevin McCarthy,
     House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Congressman McCarthy: Thank you for the opportunity to 
     weigh in on the critically important conversation about the 
     future of health care in our country. As Governor of the 
     Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, I am immensely proud of the 
     work we have done to further access to care, keep prices 
     affordable and spending in check, and improve health outcomes 
     since my administration began tackling health care as a top 
     priority.
       One of my first decisions as Governor was to expand 
     Medicaid to individuals up to 138 percent of Federal Poverty 
     Level (FPL). Since that decision was made in February 2015, 
     more than 670,000 individuals have enrolled in HealthChoices, 
     Pennsylvania's mandatory managed care Medicaid program. 
     That's 670,000 Pennsylvanians that previously did not have 
     access to quality care, if they had access to care at all. 
     Total program enrollment now tops 2.8 million Pennsylvanians. 
     U.S. Census data shows that the commonwealth's uninsured rate 
     has dropped from 10.2 percent in 2010 to 6.4 percent in 2015, 
     and state General Fund costs have been reduced by more than 
     $500 million as a result of Medicaid expansion.
       Even before the passage of the Affordable Care Act, 
     Medicaid was the largest single payer in the United States 
     for behavioral health services, including mental health and 
     substance use services. In the midst of an exploding heroin 
     use and opioid abuse epidemic that is gripping Pennsylvania 
     and the nation, the role that Medicaid pays in addressing 
     this epidemic cannot be understated. More than 3,500 
     Pennsylvanians died from heroin and opioid-related overdoses 
     last year and that number is expected to rise again in 2016. 
     However, in the first year of Pennsylvania's Medicaid 
     expansion, almost 63,000 newly eligible Medicaid enrollees 
     accessed drug and alcohol treatment. Demands on the treatment 
     system are growing by the day but Medicaid expansion has 
     opened the door to treatment that otherwise would not be 
     available, much less affordable, to those without insurance.
       Of course, the benefits of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) 
     are not limited to those with Medicaid. The ACA has had far-
     reaching positive impacts on every community in Pennsylvania 
     In 2016, more than 439,000 people had selected health 
     coverage through the Marketplace.
       Seventy six percent of those Pennsylvanians received 
     subsidies to make those plans more affordable. In 2016, 60 
     percent of those enrollees could obtain coverage for $100 or 
     less after tax credits. For a family, that may be the 
     difference between choosing to pay for food for dinner or 
     having stable health insurance. In addition, several pieces 
     of the ACA, including the provision that allows children to 
     remain on their parents' insurance until age 26 and the 
     provision that requires coverage of pre-existing conditions, 
     have made the benefits of health insurance coverage more 
     enticing than ever before.
       Nonprofits that have historically served as the safety nets 
     of our health care system saw some relief with the passage of 
     the ACA. For many, this meant they could finally bill for 
     some of the services that they've typically provided for free 
     for individuals who are uninsured. To shift the burden back 
     on to these providers to serve an enormous influx of people 
     who would lose access to insurance under an ACA repeal is 
     doing a disservice to our nonprofit partners and our 
     communities. The upheaval would be instant and real and would 
     devastate families that have finally been able to set aside 
     health coverage from their list of daily worries.
       I respectfully ask that you carefully consider the needs of 
     the people as you move forward with discussions about the 
     future of the ACA. All too often we get swept up in the 
     politics and financial impacts to large businesses and big 
     political donors and forget that these are real people, who 
     suffer from real diseases and every day maladies. Americans 
     need real, meaningful health care coverage. They need options 
     that are affordable, easy to understand, responsive to their 
     needs, and available immediately--with no lapse in coverage. 
     They need leadership and compassion and solutions--and 
     together, we can provide them with all of those things.
       I look forward to future conversations. Thank you again for 
     the opportunity to contribute to this incredibly important 
     dialogue.
           Sincerely,
                                                         Tom Wolf,
     Governor.

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