[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 51 (Friday, March 22, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2599-S2600]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

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      By Mr. SCHATZ (for himself, Mr. Lujan, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. 
        Booker, Mr. Merkley, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Heinrich, Mr. Reed, Mr. 
        Welch, Ms. Smith, Ms. Hirono, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Murphy, Mr. 
        Markey, Ms. Rosen, Mr. Whitehouse, and Ms. Warren):

       S. 4063. A bill to establish a State public option through 
     Medicaid to provide Americans with the choice of a high-
     quality, low-cost health insurance plan; to the Committee on 
     Finance.
  Mr. SCHATZ. Madam President, earlier this week, some Republicans--I 
think the Republican Study Committee, 170 House Members--released their 
plans for governing next year. Here are some of the things on their 
healthcare wish list: ending Medicare as we know it, which would drive 
up costs and threaten care for seniors; trying again--I think we are 
now on 50 attempts--to gut the Affordable Care Act, leaving tens of 
millions of Americans without coverage overnight and punishing people 
with preexisting conditions; and banning abortions, IVF, and 
contraception in every single State through bills ``designed to advance 
the cause of life.''
  If budgets are statements of a party's value, then Republicans are 
making no secret of theirs: less access to quality healthcare and less 
control over their personal health.
  And there is no reason not to take them at their word, other than 
that, if we take them at their word, you sort of sound like you are 
exaggerating. That is the problem. It is that what they are proposing 
is so outlandish, that it sounds like, you know, a Democrat and someone 
who wants my point of view to win the day. It sounds like I am 
exaggerating their point of view.
  I actually had to read this stuff from the Republican study group, 
and they are way out of the mainstream--way out of the mainstream. 
Again, there is no reason not to take them at their word because, in 
Congress and in Statehouses across the country, Republicans say what 
they want to do, and then they do it. It doesn't matter how cruel these 
policies are, how unpopular their positions are. They have not been 
able to show any restraint whatsoever when it comes to enacting this 
extreme agenda.
  And it is extreme. Millions of Americans are left to endure the 
disastrous consequences of this crusade every day. If Republicans have 
their way, millions of people will lose their healthcare. Seniors and 
people with preexisting conditions will be forced to pay outrageous 
out-of-pocket costs, just to get lifesaving procedures and medications. 
And young people will be kicked off of their parents' plan immediately. 
And women across the country will be forced to carry doomed pregnancies 
to term. Families trying to start a family

[[Page S2600]]

will have one less option, at least, with IVF not even available to 
them.
  This is not what we should be fighting for. We have to work to get 
more people covered, because high-quality, low-cost healthcare should 
not be a luxury available to some, and, frankly--and I believe this--
there is going to be a point where we don't fight about healthcare 
anymore. There is going to be a point at which Republicans realize that 
taking away people's healthcare, taking away people's autonomy as it 
relates to their own bodies, is just an electoral loser.
  We are getting there on Obamacare. I thought we had kind of gotten 
there after multiple attempts to repeal it, but here they are again, 
trying to start that effort again.
  Democrats are focusing on lowering premium and drug prescription 
costs so getting healthcare doesn't bankrupt people. And even the 
Republicans in Washington and across the country, as they try to 
control women by dismantling reproductive freedoms, Democrats are 
fighting to codify Roe into Federal law.
  Democrats have done more than just give speeches about healthcare. We 
have actually delivered. It was 14 years ago that we passed the 
Affordable Care Act, which has since helped more than 40 million 
Americans get their coverage and has improved health outcomes for so 
many people: women, children, seniors, people with disabilities, people 
in rural communities.
  And so it is no wonder that, more than a decade later, the ACA 
continues to grow in popularity and is setting new records every year 
for enrollment. Why? Because people actually like having healthcare. 
Republicans, Democrats, Independents, voters, not voters--everybody 
basically thinks that we should have a system that treats you humanely 
if you are sick.
  But it hasn't stopped Republicans from trying again and again to 
repeal it, through Supreme Court cases, Executive orders, and 
legislation. They have failed every time.
  Meanwhile, Democrats continue to build on the ACA's progress, 
including recently with the Inflation Reduction Act and the American 
Rescue Plan, because there are now tax credits and other measures in 
those bills that enable millions of Americans to save, on average, $800 
a year on premiums. And the number of uninsured is at an alltime low. 
The number of uninsured is at an alltime low, and the reason for that 
is legislation that fortunately passed. But we, unfortunately, did not 
have a single Republican vote for the Affordable Care Act, for the 
American Rescue Plan, or for the Inflation Reduction Act.
  For the first time ever, people with Medicare are paying less for 
insulin, which is now capped at $35, and saving money on a whole range 
of other prescription drugs. This is what progress looks like.
  But there are still millions of Americans, especially in the middle 
class, who don't get coverage through work but make too much to qualify 
for subsidies, and they deserve coverage too. The State Public Option 
Act, which I am reintroducing today with colleagues in the Senate and 
House, would help to bridge that gap. It helps to provide a public 
option to anyone who wants health insurance by allowing States to 
create a Medicaid buy-in program that is not based on income.
  State public-option programs have shown to lower costs, increase 
consumers' choice in plans, and improve equity in coverage. Several 
States--including Maine, Minnesota, and New Mexico--are already 
exploring creating exactly this kind of buy-in approach. The State 
Public Option Act would help other States to follow suit.
  The bottom line is this: Healthcare is a necessity and not a luxury, 
and it shouldn't be something the political parties argue about. In the 
richest country in human history, having it should not depend on your 
job or your economic status. It ought to be available, accessible, and 
affordable to everybody. The vast majority of Americans agree, but 
there is only one party today fighting to make it a reality.
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      By Mr. PADILLA (for himself and Mr. Booker):
  S. 4065. A bill to prohibit discrimination in health care and require 
the provision of equitable health care, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I rise to introduce the Equal Health 
Care for All Act, which appropriately frames healthcare discrimination 
as a civil rights issue.
  Inequitable access to quality, affordable healthcare is the result of 
centuries of structural and systemic racism, all of which continues to 
result in poorer health outcomes in communities of color.
  Black, Hispanic, and indigenous individuals are disproportionately 
more likely than their White counterparts to suffer from a range of 
illnesses, from asthma to heart disease to prostate cancer.
  Inequitable outcomes are not exclusive to racial trends, however. 
Women are both diagnosed with and die from lung cancer at a higher rate 
than men, when comparing those who never smoked. And while rates of 
lung cancer have dropped, women fall behind while rates of cancer drop 
faster for men.
  The Equal Health Care for All Act seeks to address structural 
inequities by establishing a legal definition of ``inequitable health 
care'' and creating a formal process to enforce the standard.
  The bill would also establish a grant program to assist hospitals and 
other providers in implementing reforms to ensure equitable care and 
would establish a permanent Federal Health Equity Commission to study 
and make recommendations on health equity issues.
  I would like to thank my colead, Representative Adam Schiff, for his 
leadership in California and for leading on this issue in the House.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues to enact the Equal 
Health Care for All Act as quickly as possible.

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