[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 14354]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      OCTOBER 1 SIGNALS A NEW DAY

  (Mrs. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, in just 6 days, the health exchanges 
will be open for enrollment and many people will have access to 
quality, affordable health care for the very first time.
  The Congressional Black Caucus just completed 8 town halls across the 
country to fully and accurately inform our communities about the 
exchanges and Medicaid expansion and when and how to enroll and who 
their navigators and their certified enrollment assisters are. 
Everywhere we went, we found people hungry for the information we 
shared, including how the law had already helped thousands of people in 
their area: the young people who stayed on their parents' insurance, 
the many Medicare beneficiaries who were able to get preventive 
services and wellness visits without a copay, and the many people who 
got significant rebates from their insurance companies and how much 
each Medicare beneficiary saved in prescription drug costs. They were 
very angry about the misinformation that continues to be spread about 
the Affordable Care Act.
  We Democrats are proud of the work we did with President Obama to 
create this law and to make wellness a possibility for many who, for 
far too long, had been left out of the health care system. October 1 
signals a brand new day for them and for our country, and we should 
celebrate it and do everything we can to make sure everyone in our 
districts enjoys these benefits.

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