[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 202 (Tuesday, December 12, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H9796]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
OPEN ENROLLMENT
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from
Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) for 5 minutes.
Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise to urge Americans to sign up for
their health insurance by this Friday, at midnight, if they haven't
already done so for the 2018 year. This Friday, December 15, is the
deadline to sign up for open enrollment for them and for their family.
{time} 1045
If you don't do that, you won't have a chance, really, to buy that
health insurance next year. If you haven't already bought your health
insurance for 2018, to get details about available plans, please visit
the website, healthcare.gov, or call 1-800-318-2596--that is
healthcare.gov, or 1-800-318-2596. You will actually get to talk to a
real person.
In order to get in touch with someone local who can help you sign up
for insurance in your own area, you call that same number, 1-800-318-
2596, or you can go to the website that is called
localhelp.healthcare.gov--localhelp.healthcare.gov.
Health insurance is vital. It can protect us from astronomical cost
when a serious accident or illness occurs, because the average cost of
a 3-day hospital stay is $30,000. A broken leg, on average, costs
$7,500. Having a baby, on average, in States like Ohio, costs $6,000.
Health insurance is your lifeline. It helps protect you and your
family from unexpected costs and, frankly, possible bankruptcy, because
over two-thirds of people in our country that go bankrupt do so because
of health bills they can't pay.
What happens is, if they have a house, they lose the house. It is
confiscated to pay the medical bills. They lose their credit rating. It
is a terrible thing that happens to people when they get sick, and it
is just a roll of the dice on who is going to get cancer, who is going
to get appendicitis, who is going to become ill, who is going to be hit
in a hit-and-run accident around this country.
Coverage choices are affordable on these exchanges, and, in many
cases, financial help is available. During last year's enrollment
period, believe it or not, 8 in 10 people qualified for financial help.
For most people, that meant they could find insurance premiums for as
little as $100 a month or less.
For example, CareNet, a provider network in Ohio, recently helped to
enroll a gentleman who has cancer and was previously uninsured. Can you
imagine that? Who can afford these infusions? This man spent an entire
year without oncology treatment and certainly needs multiple surgeries
now. Because of the Affordable Care Act and through the help of
CareNet, he found a plan that costs $100 a month. He thought he would
have to pay much more, but he will now be able to begin treatment at
the beginning of 2018. Thank God he got coverage.
Actually, many working people can qualify for Medicaid. For example,
a family of four earning $33,000 in Ohio can get coverage through
Medicaid. Please know you can apply for and enroll in Medicaid at any
time of the year. Even if you don't have health insurance, you should
definitely look into that if you do not have health insurance.
Every American is required to have health insurance through their
employer--but a lot of employers don't provide it--through Medicare,
Medicaid, or through purchase of plans on the individual marketplace.
Health insurance provides you and your family with health security and
piece of mind, paying costs when you need medical care.
The marketplace provides access to quality and affordable health
coverage, which requires insurers to cover certain benefits such as
prescriptions, emergency care, mental healthcare, and preventive
services. It is important to highlight that more than 68 million people
rely on Medicaid, and 9 million children rely on the Children's Health
Insurance Program.
Now, Republicans in Congress have let the children's program lapse.
Unfortunately, Federal funding for that program helps over 220,000
children in Ohio, and 73 days ago, the Republican Congress said: Sorry,
America's children, we are going to put you on hold for the moment.
Whether that program will be funded or not is all caught up in these
end-of-year discussions that are occurring here at a very high level.
America's children should be covered with insurance.
The Republican-led Congress has also let Federal funding for
community health centers, a resource critical to millions of our
families, lapse also since September 30. They best restore that. Why
hurt the American people? Why would you do that?
Once again, please visit healthcare.gov or call 1-800-318-2596 to
sign up for your health insurance for 2018. Do what is responsible, and
do what is lifegiving.
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