[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 50 (Wednesday, March 22, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H2296]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            DON'T REPEAL AFFORDABLE CARE ACT--MAKE BIG FIXES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, the healthcare plan supported by President 
Trump and Speaker Ryan will raise premiums and deductibles.
  Let's tell the truth here on the floor of the House of 
Representatives. It will raise premiums and deductibles. It will throw 
millions off of their insurance. It will shift the cost of health care 
to the States who are fiscally strapped today, causing a rationing of 
care at the State level. And, yes, it will cover less and less people 
and raise the insecurity that people have today about whether or not, 
if they get an illness or someone in their family does, they are going 
to have healthcare coverage.
  The result is that working people, older Americans, will pay more; 
and, in fact, with older Americans, it will impose an age tax. The 
irony of this is that working people and older Americans are going to 
be paying for the tax breaks in this bill, tax breaks to millionaires 
and to billionaires. I will explain.
  The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office recently estimated that 
14 million Americans will lose coverage in 2018; 24 million Americans 
will lose their insurance coverage by 2026. In my State of Connecticut, 
220,300 individuals are projected to lose their health insurance by 
2026.
  Again, older Americans will be hit the hardest. They will see their 
premiums spike. Yes, it is an age tax. And the reckless cuts in this 
bill rob, in addition to this, it robs the Medicare trust fund, which 
people rely on, of over $170 billion, shortening the life of that trust 
fund by years. Long-term care that older Americans rely on will be 
hurt, as well as folks who are disabled. And children will be hurt as 
well.
  Over the next 10 years--and again, these are not my numbers, but the 
Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that two of the tax breaks in the 
repeal bill will provide $275 billion in tax cuts to individuals who 
have an income over $200,000, and nearly $190 billion will go to tax 
cuts for health insurance companies.
  Do we believe that they are hurting?
  It is also going to provide a tax break for drug companies, for 
pharmaceutical companies.
  Are they hurting today? No. They are reaping profits every single 
day. That is the case with medical device manufacturers as well.

  While the wealthiest Americans and corporations reap the benefits of 
this Trump bill and Ryan bill, roughly 160 million households with 
incomes below that $200,000 level will pay for the repeal of these 
taxes.
  I have heard from thousands of my constituents about how the 
Affordable Care Act has positively impacted their lives. I have 
submitted testimony for the record from women in my district who depend 
on the Affordable Care Act to manage life-threatening illnesses, get 
back to work, get them the mental health services that they need.
  Just think of that injustice when you think about Mnikesa Whitaker, 
whom I spoke to just 2 weeks ago. She has an autoimmune disease which 
is called scleroderma. I regret to say that this has put her life in 
danger, but she now has the protection because she is no longer 
threatened by preexisting conditions. In her words, she said: ``I will 
die without the Affordable Care Act.''
  We have a moral obligation not to let Mnikesa or others down. We have 
an obligation to older Americans and to the middle class of this 
country, to working people. The Affordable Care Act needs to be changed 
in critical ways. Premiums and deductibles are way too high and are 
putting too much strain on families who barely make enough to live on. 
We know that because their wages have not kept pace with rising costs. 
There is not enough competition in the marketplaces.
  But instead of repealing the Affordable Care Act, we should be 
working our hearts out to make the big fixes that are necessary. But my 
friends, that starts with defeating this wrongheaded bill.

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