[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12619-12620]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I am going to spend a few minutes talking 
about the Affordable Care Act. I wonder how many people on the 
Republican side today are going to talk about ObamaCare. If they do, 
they should be in a very positive state. We know that as a result of 
this bill, the Affordable Care Act, people are getting or soon will get 
a rebate. One of the things we did--led by Senator Franken and others--
was make sure that 80 percent of the money paid for premiums goes to 
patient care and any amount that doesn't has to be refunded to the 
patients. That is in the process now. In the month of August, all those 
moneys will come back in a significant amount to Americans who, in 
effect, are part of programs that spend too much on salaries for 
bosses.
  Also, we are going to talk a little bit today about what this 
Affordable Care Act does for women in America. As I said, I am going to 
speak very briefly, but we are going to have people come--as soon as I 
and the Republican leader finish--to talk about good things in this 
bill for women. I will touch on them very briefly.
  There is no question this bill that was signed by President Obama is 
a landmark piece of legislation. It signaled an end to insurance 
company discrimination among many but especially against those who are 
ill, those with a preexisting condition, and especially against women.
  As a result of this bill we passed, being a woman is no longer a 
preexisting disability in America. For many years, insurance companies

[[Page 12620]]

charged American women higher premiums. Why? Because they are women. 
For years, American women have unfairly borne the burden of the high 
cost of contraception as well. Even women with private insurance often 
wind up spending hundreds of dollars more each year for birth control. 
Today, women of reproductive age spend two-thirds more out of their own 
pockets for health care costs than men, largely due to the high cost of 
birth control. But starting tomorrow--Wednesday of this week--new 
insurance plans must cover contraception and many other preventive 
health services for women. How much? No additional pay at all. Under 
health care reform, about 47 million women, including almost 400,000 
women in Nevada, will have guaranteed access to those additional 
preventive services without cost sharing.
  Many on the other side downplayed the importance of these benefits or 
fought to repeal them altogether. It is hard to comprehend but true. 
Forcing American women to continue struggling with the high price of 
contraception has very real consequences. Every year millions of women 
in the United States put off doctors' visits because they can't afford 
the copay and millions more skip pills or shots to save money.
  It is no mystery why the United States has one of the highest rates 
of unintended pregnancies of all industrialized nations. Half of all 
pregnancies in America are unplanned. Of those unintended pregnancies, 
about half wind up in abortion. Increasing access to contraception is 
the most effective way to reduce unintended pregnancies and reduce the 
number of abortions, but the high cost is often a barrier.
  That is why, in 1997, Olympia Snowe and I began a bipartisan effort 
to prevent unintended pregnancies by expanding access to contraception. 
It has not been an easy path, but we did make a start. As part of this 
effort, we helped pass a law ensuring Federal employees access to 
contraception. It was a big issue. That was 15 years ago or more. It is 
an issue that is still important, but we started it, and I am very 
happy about that. Olympia Snowe was terrific to work with.
  When this benefit took place in 1999, premiums did not go up one 
single dime because neither did health care costs--not one penny. It 
was rewarding to note that a pro-life Democrat and pro-choice 
Republican were able to confront the issue with a practical eye rather 
than a political eye. It is unfortunate that over the last 15 years an 
idea that started as a common-ground proposal has become so polarizing 
in Congress. The controversy is quite strange when we consider that 
almost 99 percent of women have relied on contraception at some point 
in their lives, and many have struggled to afford it. The Affordable 
Care Act will ensure that insurance companies treat women fairly and 
treat birth control as any other preventive service.
  Prior to Senator Snowe and me doing this, anything a man wanted they 
got. Viagra, fine; we will take care of that. Anything a man wanted 
they got--but not a woman. The law doesn't just guarantee women's 
access to contraception, it assures their access to many other 
lifesaving procedures as well.
  Thanks to the health care bill--the Affordable Care Act--insurance 
companies are already required to cover preventive care such as 
mammograms. For a person who is able to have a mammogram, it is 
lifesaving. Most people in the Senate know my wife is battling breast 
cancer. She had a mammogram in December and in August discovered a lump 
in her breast. Think of what would have happened if she had waited 1 
year because she couldn't afford that mammogram. Frankly, the thought 
of it is very hard for me to comprehend because even though she had 
that mammogram in December, she had found it and was in stage 3 of 
breast cancer. It has been very difficult. What if she waited an extra 
year? Many people wait a lot longer than an extra year.
  Colonoscopies save lives. I was talking to one of my friends in the 
Senate who is going to have his done. They do it every 5 years. It 
takes at least 10 years for polyps to develop into cancer, and some 
polyps develop into cancer if they are not taken out. People need to 
have this done.
  Blood pressure checks, childhood immunizations without cost sharing 
is part of what is in this bill. It used to be a bill; now it is the 
law.
  Starting tomorrow--again, Wednesday of this week--women will no 
longer have to reach in their pockets to pay for wellness checkups. 
They can do screening for diabetes, HPV testing, sexually transmitted 
infection counseling, HIV screening and counseling, breastfeeding 
support, domestic violence screening and counseling. That is all in the 
law starting tomorrow. All women in new insurance plans will have 
access to all forms of FDA-approved contraception without having to 
shell out more money on top of their premiums. Ending insurance company 
discrimination will help millions more women afford the care they need 
when they need it. It will restore basic fairness to the health care 
system. Sometimes the practical thing to do is also the right thing to 
do, and that is what the legislation we worked so hard to pass is all 
about. It is about doing the right thing for everyone. Today we are 
going to focus on women.

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