[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 118 (Thursday, July 13, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H5772]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             TRUMPCARE BILL

  (Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, as we wait for a vote on a bill 
to repeal the Affordable Care Act, I want to remind my colleagues that 
51 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of the Affordable Care 
Act, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. That is more than the 
support for Congress or the President.
  More importantly, a recent study from Kaiser found that the ACA 
markets are stabilizing and insurers are regaining profitability. Yet 
we continue to hear false arguments saying that markets are collapsing 
or in a death spiral. That is not true.
  If the majority Republican is serious about fixing our healthcare 
system and cutting costs to healthcare, they should give up plans to 
repeal and start putting solutions over politics.
  I have said for years that the ACA is not perfect. No bill this 
Congress ever passed is. But in order to fix it, we need to work 
together on a bipartisan basis.
  The bill that the Senate and House GOP has proposed will undermine 
protections for Americans with preexisting conditions. Now we are 
hearing there is an amendment on the Senate side that will essentially 
allow for the sale of policies with skimpier benefits, so long as 
insurers offer an option that covers all ACA-mandated benefits. We know 
where that goes. We will not be able to afford those benefits.

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