[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 1114-1115]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          PATIENT FREEDOM ACT

  Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, I rise today to talk about an issue that 
is important to all of us.
  We are, obviously, a nation in transition. Recently, the Senate took 
the first steps to repeal ObamaCare and begin a transition toward 
policies that

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will ensure continued access to health care with more affordability and 
flexibility for all. We need a stable transition that will empower 
Americans to make the best health care decisions for their families.
  In my home State of West Virginia, ObamaCare has been very difficult 
for many. It has meant skyrocketing premiums and skyrocketing copays 
and deductibles for families and small businesses. It has meant little, 
if any, choice of insurers. As a matter of fact, for the first several 
years, we had no choice. We now have two insurers in several counties, 
but in the beginning, the entire State had no choice.
  It has meant fewer choices of doctors and hospitals, as networks 
shrink and plans become more restrictive. Now we must repair what can 
be fixed, scrap what is not working, and create a better health care 
reality for all Americans.
  I have spoken with small business owners who have absorbed the cost 
of increased insurance, but their employees are getting less coverage. 
I have spoken to families who may have health insurance, but due to the 
high deductibles and copays, they don't use it. They can't afford to 
even go. I have also heard from those in my State who have real 
concerns about what this transition will mean to them. This is 
especially true for those who receive coverage through Medicaid.
  My State is one of the States that did an expanded Medicaid. For all 
of these West Virginians--and there are somewhere around 177,000 new 
folks who are on Medicaid--whether they are the Medicaid recipients or 
the business owners and families who are currently struggling, we need 
to have health insurance that works for everybody.
  So I want them to know--and many of them have called my office, and I 
have talked with them a lot in our State--that I am listening to their 
concerns. As we move forward, I am working to balance each of these 
needs and ensure access in West Virginia and across the Nation to 
affordable, quality health care.
  To achieve this goal, I am joining Senators Cassidy, Collins, and 
Isakson to introduce an alternative to ObamaCare which was introduced 
yesterday. It is called the Patient Freedom Act. It sounds good. We are 
really good at making names that sound good, but the Patient Freedom 
Act lives up to its name.
  The Patient Freedom Act of 2017 removes ObamaCare's most burdensome 
regulations. It provides our States, which are closest to the people 
who are accessing health care, the opportunity and funding to ensure 
that those currently covered by Medicaid expansion are protected and 
retain their health coverage. It returns authority to the States and 
provides more health care choices and better insurance options to 
individuals and families. It keeps important consumer protections, such 
as coverage for preexisting conditions, and extends coverage to 
children and dependents until the age of 26--both very popular parts of 
the ACA. It protects the Federal black lung benefits program, which is 
especially important in my State of West Virginia and the surrounding 
areas.
  In addition to all of those important changes, it gives States a 
pathway forward for replacing ObamaCare. Specifically, following 
repeal, which we know we are going to do, States will have three 
options. First, a State, if it so chooses, could choose to reinstate 
ObamaCare, or a State could go without Federal assistance and opt to 
not receive any Federal funding for tax credits or Medicaid expansion. 
Finally, a State could choose an innovative replacement plan where the 
State determines its own insurance regulations. In this scenario, the 
State would be eligible for 95 percent of the funds it would receive 
under ObamaCare, and the Medicaid expansion would be fully funded. For 
a State like West Virginia that has already expanded Medicaid, the 
State could either keep its Medicaid expansion as is, or they could 
convert it to subsidies to help individuals purchase the private 
insurance.
  Under this plan, individuals would use a Roth Health Savings Account 
to purchase health care. This would enable uninsured individuals to 
purchase health insurance that meets their specific needs. States would 
have the option to auto-enroll uninsured individuals into a standard 
health care plan, with individuals able to easily opt out if they 
didn't want it. Auto enrollment would ensure stability and soundness to 
our insurance markets.
  The Patient Freedom Act is a smart, innovative way forward and meets 
the varied needs of people in my State of West Virginia and across the 
country. The legislation reflects Senator Cassidy's experience as a 
physician, and I thank him for his innovation--he has worked with 
patients who are uninsured--and I appreciate his leadership so much, as 
I do Senator Collins in particular and Senator Isakson as another 
cosponsor. As other replacement plans are drafted and introduced in the 
Senate, I will evaluate those proposals to ensure they meet West 
Virginians' health care needs. I am committed to replacing ObamaCare 
with a system that offers us more choice. We can figure this out; we 
know what we need--lowers cost gives patients and families more 
control--because, together, we can achieve a health care system that 
works for everybody.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The assistant Democratic leader.

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