[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 780-781]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              REFINE THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT--DON'T REPEAL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, it is heartening that a few of our 
Republican colleagues are urging caution on the reckless approach to 
repeal the Affordable Care Act. They are acknowledging that the only 
reasonable way to

[[Page 781]]

proceed--if that is the objective--is to, at the same time that they 
repeal, provide the American people with a replacement, a replacement 
that meets their criteria.
  One reason they have not done so is that Republicans don't really 
agree, don't really know how to do that. The new President promises 
that a repeal-and-replace program will be better. It will have lower 
costs and better coverage--a tall order--and we have seen no details.
  The troubling fact for the Republicans bent on repealing the 
Affordable Care Act is that the ACA is working, and most of the major 
provisions are wildly popular: no lifetime limits on health care; no 
denial for preexisting conditions to almost 130 million Americans who 
would otherwise have their health care at risk; allowing children to 
stay on their parents' health insurance until they are age 25; not 
charging women higher premiums than men simply because of their 
chromosomes.
  These elements are absolutely essential going forward, and the 
American public wants this to continue. Sadly, even if they do slow 
down and try to do it right, there is much damage that is being done 
with the uncertainty in the air. They have unsettled 18 percent of our 
economy--over $3 trillion of annual expenses--disrupting the 6 years of 
progress in making the system work better.
  I have been talking to people in my community, finding out about some 
of the damage that is being done, their concerns and apprehensions. The 
largest employer in the city of Portland is Oregon Health & Science 
University. They already have felt compelled to implant a hiring 
freeze, dial back some of their programming, trying to reconfigure, 
preparing for the worst.
  The local government, partnering with the private sector to treat the 
poor and the elderly, people with mental health issues, are having 
their important reforms put at risk, and they are scrambling to try and 
figure out how to do it.
  The State of Oregon, not unlike many States around the country, is 
facing some budget challenges, and there is a $1.7 billion question 
dealing with the uncertainty going forward with Medicaid.
  Rural hospitals are especially vulnerable, and they will explain it 
to any Congressman who chooses to ask. Most important for many of them 
is the fact that this approach that is being pursued on Capitol Hill 
with this question mark puts at risk one of the greatest achievements 
of the Affordable Care Act. The vast amounts of money spent on 
uncompensated care, charity care, has been dramatically reduced. People 
are getting their health care earlier, and it is being paid for. And 
those uncompensated care levels are falling dramatically. They are 
getting better care, more timely.
  The health providers in my community are concerned they are still 
going to have to provide the care, but it will be done later in an 
emergency room, not in a clinic setting, and they are left holding the 
bag financially. It is not hard to find out how damaging this approach 
has been.
  Certainly, the Affordable Care Act could use refinement and 
improvement. We have been trying to do that for the last 6 years. The 
local medical associations, community clinics, hospitals, health plans 
are all willing to say how that could be done; but at the same time, 
they will explain what is at risk and why we owe it to them and the 
people we serve to understand the damage that is being done and try and 
minimize it.
  The course that is being followed will make America sick again, and 
that is not the way to start a new administration, a new Congress. We 
should do what we should have been doing for the last 6 years: working 
together, cooperatively, to build upon, refine, and improve the 
Affordable Care Act and give the American public the health care they 
deserve.

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