[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 193 (Wednesday, December 4, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6847-S6848]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               HEALTHCARE

  Ms. STABENOW. Madam President, let me speak more specifically about 
healthcare.
  I come to the floor every week and say the same thing, which is that 
healthcare is personal, not political, for each one of us. That is 
really true in our own families. We want whatever it takes to make sure 
our children have what they need, that our moms and dads and grandpas 
and grandmas have what they need, and that we have what we need with 
healthcare. It is pretty basic. It is a common, human need that we all 
share. Unfortunately, this has become a political issue here in DC. 
Nowhere else is it a political issue. It is personal for people in 
Michigan and around the country.
  If a senior can't afford the medication she needs for a chronic 
condition, that is personal. If parents don't have trusted doctors to 
call when their children wake up with coughs and high fevers and they 
don't know what is happening, that is personal. If a woman is charged 
more for healthcare coverage than she needs to be just because she is a 
woman and has detected cancer or if she wants to have it detected early 
but doesn't have the healthcare with which to do that, that is very 
personal.
  Healthcare for each one of us is something very personal. 
Unfortunately, the law that helps seniors afford their medications, 
that provides families health insurance, that covers lifesaving 
preventive care, and that protects people with preexisting conditions 
is under political attack over and over.
  From the very beginning, the Trump administration has been 
undermining the healthcare of millions and millions of Americans. It is 
now open enrollment season, and, unfortunately, the administration is 
at it again--what it couldn't do here in this body when we voted no. We 
would not repeal the Affordable Care Act. We would not rip apart the 
healthcare system. This is what happened right here. It couldn't 
achieve this through Congress--the legislative body, the people's 
body--so it is now, through the backdoor, trying to find ways to 
unravel and rip apart the healthcare system and have costs go up so it 
can say: See? Look, costs are going up--because of what they are doing 
behind the scenes to unravel everything.
  So here we are. It is open enrollment to sign up for an Affordable 
Care Act plan, and the administration is at it again. The Centers for 
Medicare and Medicaid Services is using taxpayer funding to promote 
third-party insurance brokers. I would encourage people to go to the 
website healthcare.gov. You have until December 15 to do it. There used 
to be a longer signup time. One of the things the administration has 
done is to cut back the signup time, but you have until December 15.
  When you go there now, though, it is a little tricky, a little 
confusing. You have healthcare.gov, and then, depending on what button 
you click, it takes you outside of healthcare.gov, the government 
system, to private insurance brokers. The insurance brokers are allowed 
to enroll people in quality, comprehensive plans, which are what the 
Affordable Care Act provides, and you know what essential services are 
covered. If they do that, they get paid, but if they sign you up 
through an insurance company for what we call a junk plan, which 
doesn't cover anything, then they get paid up to four times more. So 
they get paid more if you get less coverage.
  The problem is it is going to look good because it will probably cost 
less for many folks, and you will not know what it covers until you get 
sick. I don't know how many times it was before the Affordable Care Act 
was passed that someone would call me and say: I have paid into my 
insurance plan all my life, and I have never been sick. I got sick. 
What do you mean it only covers 1 day in the hospital? What do you mean 
it doesn't cover the ambulance? What do you mean I only get two 
treatments?
  That is what we mean by a junk plan--a plan that does not cover what 
you would expect it to cover in terms of your care. So it is very 
important that you go to healthcare.gov if this is something that you 
are interested in, if you need insurance, or if you want to change your 
plan. It is important that you go into the system, in fact, in which 
you are going to be given quotes on comprehensive care and in which 
there is accountability for the coverage.
  Late last month, I released a report that outlined the many ways the 
Trump administration has been undermining healthcare. It has nearly 
eliminated the funding for what is called healthcare navigators, who 
are people who can help you sign up for health insurance coverage. It 
doesn't matter what it is or if you have a lot of questions, as it is 
complicated; having somebody who can get on the phone to answer your 
questions and walk you through it is important. Yet the funding for the 
folks to do that--to help you, to answer your questions--has basically 
been eliminated.
  The administration has slashed the budget for advertising so that 
people don't know it is open enrollment now. They don't know where they 
can go to sign up or how many days they have in which to do that and 
how to do it online.
  As I mentioned before, the administration has cut the time in half 
that you have to sign up.
  The worst thing is, any day now, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, 
which is backed by the Trump administration, could announce a ruling 
that overturns the entire Affordable Care Act. This would take away 
what we call Healthy Michigan, which is our Medicaid expansion. It 
would take away the ability for your children to stay on your insurance 
until they reach the age of 26. It would take away protections for 
people with preexisting conditions. It would put back into place or 
allow insurance companies to put back into place caps on the number of 
treatments you can receive. It would also put back into place all of 
the other restrictions that insurance companies had on care but that 
had been eliminated with the Affordable Care Act.
  I have to say, recently, when we looked at how this would impact 
people with the possibility of eliminating the Affordable Care Act in 
this court decision, we also realized that not only would it take away 
healthcare for millions of Americans, but it would have the perverted 
result of actually providing a tax cut to the wealthiest individuals 
and to prescription drug companies and insurance companies that each 
chip in to help pay for the tax cuts that average citizens have used in 
order to get lower cost care.
  It seems as though it doesn't matter what it is that our Republican 
colleagues or this President supports, for it always ends up as another 
tax cut for the wealthy. Unfortunately, with the

[[Page S6848]]

repeal of health insurance and all it would do to average families in 
taking away their capacity to get care and the confidence that they can 
get care for their families, it, too, would provide another tax 
giveaway to the wealthy.
  The court case and all it would do in repealing the Affordable Care 
Act would have life-changing consequences for millions of people in 
Michigan, including someone I would like to tell you about.
  Henry is an outgoing 9-year-old who lives in Grosse Pointe, MI. Henry 
loves people. He greets everyone he meets with a big hug. He also loves 
performing. His favorite activity is dance class, and he enjoys singing 
karaoke at home.
  Henry, we have something in common. I like to sing too.
  Henry is also living with a number of preexisting conditions, 
including Down syndrome, autism, and severe reflux.
  Henry's mom explains why comprehensive health insurance is so 
important for her family. Henry was hospitalized at 8 months for an 
infection that nearly took his life. Saving his life cost over $1 
million. She added this: If we didn't have access to affordable 
healthcare coverage, we would have been bankrupt before Henry was 1 
year old.
  No family should go bankrupt because a child was born with a genetic 
condition or hospitalized with a serious illness. I want to remind my 
colleagues that this could happen to any of us at any time.
  Almost 4 years ago, my nephew and his wonderful wife, Mac and Allie, 
had their firstborn girl, and she was born with only half a heart and 
spent most of the first year of her life in the children's hospital at 
the University of Michigan. She had incredible care. She is now almost 
4 years old. Little Leighton is our miracle baby, but she came out with 
a whole laundry list of preexisting conditions, ongoing challenges, and 
a huge healthcare bill that I know, if we hadn't had healthcare 
coverage, if they weren't able to get coverage, they would have done 
anything--anything--including losing their home, in order to keep 
Leighton alive and thriving. That is what we do for our kids. That is 
what we do for our families. Too many people have been put in that 
position.
  That is one of the reasons the Affordable Care Act was put in place, 
to give some options so that you wouldn't have to focus on losing 
everything in order to protect your child's life. So that is what is at 
stake right now.
  Unfortunately, this administration is trying to turn the clock back 
to a time when filing for bankruptcy or not being able to get your 
child the lifesaving medical care they need was all too common. All 
people with preexisting conditions deserve to know that their health 
insurance will be there when they need it, just like Henry's was.
  Half of the people in Michigan have preexisting conditions, and they 
want to know that they are going to be OK, that their healthcare 
coverage is not going to be ripped away. I want that for them too. I 
want that for all of us.
  Healthcare isn't political; it is personal. It is time to stop 
playing politics with people's health and work to protect Henry and his 
family and all of our families.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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