[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.
____________________