[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 20]
[House]
[Pages 27821-27822]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         SUPPORT FOR THE AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE FOR AMERICA ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Connolly) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. I rise today to commend those who have 
endeavored to improve the provision of quality, affordable health care 
for all Americans and to refute those who use scare tactics to derail 
essential health insurance reform.
  During the more than 12 hours of debate on the House floor on 
November 7, we heard a number of speeches from some forecasting various 
doom and gloom scenarios. Some of the material focused more on scaring 
the American public than on presenting actual facts. We heard 
preposterous stories of death panels and prisons, denial of care and 
dramatic cuts in services, but the purveyors of fear ignored the 
hundreds of groups across the Nation that saw through the scare tactics 
and who support responsible health insurance reform. Those groups 
aren't driven by partisan ideology. They're focused on the well-being 
of their members. I would like to highlight just a few.
  The scare tactic said this bill will harm seniors. In actuality, the 
Affordable Health Care for America Act will help seniors by closing the 
Medicare part D prescription drug loophole that currently causes many 
seniors to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket, and it will help 
keep Medicare solvent and able to continue paying benefits well into 
the future. Without reform, Medicare part A will be insolvent by 2017. 
If we do nothing, Medicare hospital reimbursements will be cut by 2017. 
Without reform, premiums for Medicare part D doctor reimbursements are 
projected to increase an average of 8.5 percent every year through 
2013. That's why the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and 
Medicare supports this bill. The Alliance for Retired Americans and the 
Center for Medicare Advocacy both support this bill. The National 
Council on Aging and the Medicare Rights Center both support this bill, 
as does the AARP.

[[Page 27822]]

  The scare tactic said this bill would harm the ability of caregivers 
to provide lifesaving care. In actuality, doctors and medical providers 
know that this bill will preserve their ability to properly treat their 
patients and be fairly compensated. That's why the American Academy of 
Family Physicians and the Federation of American Hospitals support this 
bill. The American Academy of Physicians Assistants and the American 
College of Surgeons support this bill. The American Nurses Association 
and the American College of Physicians support this bill. And the 
American Medical Association supports this bill.
  The scare tactic says this bill will deny care to those with life-
threatening conditions, like cancer. In actuality, the Affordable 
Health Care for America Act will safeguard those with previous existing 
medical conditions and those in need of lifesaving procedures. That's 
why the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association 
support this bill. The American Cancer Society's Cancer Action Network 
and the American Diabetes Association both support this bill. The 
Consortium for Citizens With Disabilities and the National Alliance on 
Mental Illness both support this bill. The National Breast Cancer 
Coalition and the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance both support 
this bill, and the Paralyzed Veterans of America support this bill.
  The scare tactic said this will wreck the economy. In actuality, this 
bill will help businesses--especially small businesses--control the 
spiraling cost of health care in America. Mr. Speaker, the Business 
Roundtable recently released a report that found that without reform, 
by 2019, employer-based health insurance payments will rise 166 
percent. Without reform, those dramatic cost increases will endanger 
the economy, leaving employers and employees facing the untenable 
option of dropping coverage or laying off employees. The Business 
Roundtable's report found that the legislative reforms in the current 
health insurance bills could reduce employer costs by $3,000 per 
employee by 2019. That's why the Main Street Alliance supports the 
Affordable Health Care for America Act. The National Farmers Union 
supports the bill. The U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce supports the 
bill, as does the Small Business Majority.
  The scare tactics said that the American people would suffer. In 
actuality, consumer advocacy groups know that this bill will provide 
Americans with their choice of affordable health care options. That's 
why the Consumers Union supports it, the Consumer Health Coalition 
supports it, and the National Patient Advocate Foundation supports it.
  Mr. Speaker, there are hundreds more State and national organizations 
that refused to fall prey to diversionary scare tactics and supported 
this ground-breaking legislation on health care. The focus on these 
individual groups is disparate, but they share a common agenda with the 
majority of Americans and the majority of this House: Delivery now on 
the long overdue need for responsible health insurance reform.

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