[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 90 (Wednesday, May 24, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3150-S3151]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HEALTHCARE LEGISLATION

  Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I rise today to talk about the concerns 
of the good people of my great State of West Virginia, about their 
healthcare and the needs they have. If the American Health Care Act is 
passed, which is the Republican plan that was passed over in the House, 
many West Virginians are going to lose their current insurance 
coverage.
  Individuals on Medicaid expansion would not be guaranteed coverage 
after 2020. That means that for anybody that has gotten insurance for 
the first time, there is no guarantee they can keep it at all past 
2020. The American Hospital Association estimates that 68,200 West 
Virginians would lose their Medicaid coverage in 2018, and another 
126,000 people who currently have it would be without Medicaid coverage 
by 2026.
  The American Health Care Act, which is being sent by our friends in 
the House--our Republican friends in the House--increases the cost to 
our State. The bill cuts $834 billion from Medicaid, meaning that the 
State would receive less Federal Medicaid funding, and it would not 
increase if costs rise in the case of health crises.
  In fact, the American Hospital Association estimates that my State of 
West Virginia would lose a total of $9.8 billion over the next 10 
years--$9.8 billion over the next 10 years alone in my great State. 
With all of the hard work they have done, to go without healthcare is 
unbelievable.
  This bill would also increase costs for older, sicker, poorer, rural 
West Virginians. We have this type of a population in all of our 
States. Older Americans would face higher costs because insurance 
companies could charge them five times more than younger 
beneficiaries--five times more. So if a young beneficiary is paying 
$2,500 a year, they can end up paying $10,000, $12,000 a year. That 
would increase the costs to older Americans nationally by anywhere from 
$2,000 to $8,400.
  We did this little comparison here of what that would actually look 
like. Let's say there is a low-income senior, somebody who hasn't 
gotten to Medicare eligibility yet because of their age, and they are 
over the 138th percentile of the poverty guidelines, and they are 
paying about $1,700 now for their insurance under the Affordable Care 
Act.
  With this piece of legislation, they are going to pay upwards of 
$13,000--$13,000, which they don't have. The cost to purchase insurance 
for low-income seniors in West Virginia who buy insurance on the 
exchanges, as I just showed you, could go up to almost 800 percent--800 
percent of the costs they are paying.
  So today I am going to share the story of a West Virginian who is 
concerned about losing her healthcare. This West Virginia native is 
Stephanie Fredricksen. She told me her story at a townhall that we had 
in the Eastern Panhandle in March. She asked me to make sure I shared 
this story with all of you. This will be printed in the Record. So this 
is going to be Stephanie's story. This is one of many stories 
throughout my State of West Virginia:

       My name is Stephanie Fredricksen and back in April 2016, I 
     woke up one day unable to turn my head due to stiffness in my 
     neck and terrible pain. At first I thought I had just slept 
     on it wrong and it would go away. By early May, the pain had 
     spread to every joint in my body.
       Then, I began to experience painful spasms in my back, my 
     shoulders, my neck, and even my jaw. I started having blurred 
     vision and shooting pain in my eyes. I also began suffering 
     from extreme exhaustion, on really bad days activities as 
     simple as getting out

[[Page S3151]]

     of bed, getting dressed, and brushing my hair can tire me out 
     for hours. I could go on and on with a long list of other 
     horrible symptoms.
       My illness began to affect my job as a Property & Casualty 
     Insurance Agent. I started missing more and more time from 
     work, first due to doctor appointments and then due to the 
     worsening of my symptoms. Eventually, I was forced to file a 
     claim for long-term disability insurance. I had been 
     undergoing multiple tests and examinations and I thought the 
     physicians would soon determine what was wrong and prescribe 
     the appropriate treatment so I could get back my life and get 
     back to work.
       That never happened. During this time I had physical 
     therapy and after a couple of weeks of treatment I was able 
     to move my neck again. But by August, I was diagnosed with 
     Systemic Lupus, Systemic Sclerosis, Osteoarthritis and Severe 
     Spinal Stenosis among other related conditions. Although my 
     employer assured me they had my back, in October, I received 
     a certified letter from an attorney advising me that my 
     employment had been terminated.
       As a result, I lost my healthcare coverage and was offered 
     COBRA coverage for a period of only three months.
       On February 1, 2017, I became one of millions who rely on 
     the Affordable Care Act (ACA). I was already familiar with 
     the ACA because my husband had been covered by it since 2012.
       My husband works for a small business that doesn't offer 
     health insurance. The ACA was about $350 less than for him to 
     be added to my former employers's plan. Some of you may be 
     thinking after hearing about some of my conditions that they 
     aren't life ending but you would be wrong.
       I suffer from autoimmune diseases. My immune system attacks 
     my own body instead of resisting hostile foreign invaders. So 
     my immune system will not fight off but will actually help 
     the bad things to spread and become even stronger.
       In approximately 50 percent of people with Systemic Lupus a 
     major organ or tissue in the body such as the heart, lungs, 
     kidneys or brain will become affected.
       Between 10 and 15 percent of Lupus patients will die 
     prematurely. However, it is widely believed that number is 
     substantially underreported. Many deaths are reported as a 
     result of the complications such as kidney failure and not 
     the Lupus itself.
       1 in 3 patients with Lupus also have another autoimmune 
     disease. I fall into that category having been diagnosed with 
     Systemic Sclerosis as well. Systemic Sclerosis can also 
     involve the heart, kidneys, lungs, liver and brain. Internal 
     organ complications are common and are often not symptomatic 
     until the late stages of disease, thus routine screening is 
     essential. Lung involvement is the leading cause of death.

  She shared her story and much more with me at a townhall in 
Martinsburg. She asked me to read this on the Senate floor. She asked 
me to share her story because she has tried to share it with all of the 
elected officials herself, not just for herself but also for the 
protected 24 million Americans who are at risk of losing their 
insurance if the Affordable Care Act is repealed and replaced with the 
American Health Care Act, the act that was just passed in the House 
which is being sent to the Senate.

  So she is asking us: Please, do not pass this. Do not repeal the ACA 
but fix it. We all know it needs to be repaired. The private market 
needs to be fixed, not to mention those who will no longer be able to 
afford it with the premiums going up, especially for the older, poorer 
senior citizens.

       I obviously have pre-existing conditions, no job, and my 
     husband's job does not offer health insurance. In other 
     words, without the ACA, I would not be able to get the 
     insurance I need so badly. I also fear that based on numbers 
     provided by the CBO, if insurance is still available to me, I 
     won't be able to afford it and of course there is also my 
     husband's insurance to worry about.
       At the same time many young and healthy people chose to 
     take a gamble believing like we all do when we're young that 
     nothing bad is ever going to happen to us.
       As a result, the ACA risk pool was not as diverse as it 
     should have been. Robust participation is so critical to 
     ensuring citizens have access to and a real choice in 
     affordable coverage. Imagine if those that oppose the ACA 
     actually got behind it for the good of the country.
       The ACA even with all of its opposition helped millions and 
     it appears that the American people realize this, even many 
     that were originally fooled by the negative rhetoric have 
     decided they want to keep it. Please do what is right for us 
     the citizens that have chosen each of you to represent us.
       As I pointed out earlier, many of those people have come 
     around to a different way of thinking as of late and I 
     wouldn't be so sure that they will be there for you the next 
     time when they vote if you have taken away their health care 
     or their parents, siblings, children, grandparents, aunts, 
     uncles, nieces, nephews, neighbors, friends, church members, 
     coworkers, classmates, and so on. Of course we can't forget 
     that a lot of those people will die as a result of not being 
     able to keep their health care as well.
       Putting your politics, egos, agendas, and parties aside in 
     this case will actually save human lives. I ask you all not 
     to repeal and replace the ACA and instead to work together to 
     fix it and make improvements.
       Please don't allow the CEOs of insurance companies and the 
     wealthiest Americans to make even more money at the expense 
     of those Americans who are the most vulnerable, like the 
     disabled, the sick, the elderly and those with lower incomes.
       I beg of you, PLEASE oppose the repeal of the ACA and 
     please oppose any plan that could leave me and millions like 
     me without health insurance or that will increase our 
     premiums or deductibles or reduce or eliminate any current 
     coverage. Our lives are depending on it and we are depending 
     on you.

  So, as I have promised, I have read this letter, Stephanie's story. I 
am hoping that Stephanie is listening and watching, but also for all 
the people that she represents--people who have serious illnesses, who 
are going to be left out or who are afraid they are going to be left 
out, elderly people who are going to not be able to afford insurance.
  There are a lot of things that we can do, but one thing that we can 
all be doing is working together as Republicans and Democrats and 
putting our country first and people in our States and fixing this. We 
know it needs to be fixed. Get off the political rhetoric and quit 
blaming each other and sit down and say: OK, this needs to be repaired. 
This private market doesn't work the way it was intended to.
  We need to get more young people involved. We need the market forces 
to work. We need for everyone who has insurance for the first time to 
use it in the most efficient, effective, and appropriate way. There is 
a lot that can be done, but not just by taking political votes and 
holding each other in harm's way.
  I thank you for allowing me to tell Stephanie's story. I hope it 
helps. I can't wait to sit down and start working with all of our 
colleagues in this body.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Tillis). The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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