[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 48 (Monday, March 20, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E349]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    TESTIMONY OF MARGARET ADAIR QUINN ON THE POSITIVE IMPACT OF THE 
                          AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 20, 2017

  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride that I enter the 
powerful words of my constituent, Maggie Quinn, who supports the 
Affordable Care Act and the protections it provides our most vulnerable 
citizens.

       ``On December 7, 1991 I fell and broke my back in two 
     places. Fortunately I have regained most of my mobility but 
     at the time it ended my career in the professional theatre. I 
     pulled myself together and with my husband started small 
     business which has kept us afloat. I was doubly fortunate 
     during those years to be able to retain vested beyond COBRA 
     medical insurance for both of us through my union, Actor's 
     Equity Association.
       Then, in 2000, my husband was diagnosed with rheumatoid 
     arthritis--so we both then had ``pre-existing conditions.''
       The ACA insurance covered his treatment and drugs, we kept 
     our business going, and were proud that we were at no time a 
     burden on our state or society as a whole, but by 2013, the 
     last year of my AEA coverage, our combined premiums and co-
     pays neared 40% of our net income.
       After the Affordable Care Act was passed and Connecticut 
     opened its insurance exchange, my union terminated my 
     insurance eligibility and, because I had an ACA option 
     available in Connecticut, and because my premiums were less 
     than the union's costs to cover us. At the time, our premiums 
     alone were over 18,000 a year, a severe financial hardship 
     for two self-employed 58 year olds, and I knew even then that 
     we would not be able to sustain them for much longer.
       Because of the ACA and the Connecticut exchange, we were 
     able to enroll in a terrific plan, with a reasonable 
     deductible and, with the tax credit figured in, with premiums 
     less than half of what we had been paying. Every year since 
     2014, our premiums have decreased (they are about 6,000$ a 
     year now) and our deductibles have not risen commensurately. 
     We have been well cared for, my husband's drug costs, which 
     at retail would be approximately 5,000 a month, have not 
     crippled us, and we have continued to work at our small 
     business, to pay our federal, state, local and corporate 
     taxes, and contribute to the prosperity of our town, our 
     state, and the economy of or nation. We have been able to put 
     money away for our eventual retirement.
       Now, with the impending repeal of the ACA, that is all in 
     jeopardy.
       My husband's Great Grandmother also had Rheumatoid 
     arthritis, and her obituary in the Waterbury Republican/
     American says she spent the last ten years of her life in 
     bed.
       Ms. DeLauro, I am, quite frankly, terrified that this is 
     the prospect that awaits my husband without the safeties of 
     the ACA. It will mean the end of our business, and the end of 
     our livelihood, the end of our ability to pay taxes and 
     support our customers, our community, and our state.
       At nearly 62, with the medical problems we both have, we 
     are not realistically employable by any company large enough 
     to provide medical insurance. If the ACA tax credits and the 
     mandate that preexisting conditions cannot factor in 
     insurance coverage are done away with, we are likely to end 
     up in a high risk pool at best, and what would those self-pay 
     premiums be now, given inflation? $25,000 a year? $30,000? We 
     simply cannot afford it. And without the ACA mandated removal 
     of lifetime caps, my husband will surely cap out given his 
     high drug costs. I cannot really express the depths of my 
     fear that we risk becoming burdens on our state and its 
     already stretched social safety net. The ACA has given us the 
     promise of whole, useful working lives without the fear of 
     penury. Please, Ms. DeLauro, help us keep the ACA.''

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