[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 57 (Tuesday, April 2, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H2974]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1645
    IF THIS LAWSUIT SUCCEEDS, CENTRAL VIRGINIANS WILL BE LEFT BEHIND

  (Ms. SPANBERGER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SPANBERGER. Mr. Speaker, last week the administration asserted 
that the Affordable Care Act should be invalidated in Federal court. If 
this effort succeeds, protections for those with preexisting conditions 
would vanish.
  Approximately 51 percent of central Virginians under the age of 65 
have a preexisting condition. If this effort succeeds, we would see the 
return of caps on lifetime coverage, and those over 65 could be forced 
to pay higher Medicare premiums.
  If this effort succeeds, we would lose the ability to keep our 
children on our insurance plan until age 26. In Virginia, where we just 
saw Medicaid expansion become law, this would be upended as well.
  If efforts to scrap our healthcare system succeed, Medicaid expansion 
would be completely gutted, and with it, our efforts and ability to 
deal with the opioid epidemic across our State.
  Right now, we need a bipartisan effort to stabilize and fix our 
healthcare system, not a hyperpartisan lawsuit focused on settling old 
scores.
  Central Virginians deserve better. We are here to solve problems, and 
if there is a problem with our healthcare system, we should fix it, not 
upend our system, not hurt those with preexisting conditions, not get 
rid of the prohibition on lifetime caps, not eliminate a provision that 
allows young people to stay on their parents' insurance.
  This is why, among the other efforts we are making in this body, I am 
proud to cosponsor the Protecting Pre-Existing Conditions and Making 
Healthcare More Affordable Act of 2019.

                          ____________________