[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Pages 4236-4237]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       REPUBLICAN HEALTHCARE BILL

  Ms. WARREN. Mr. President, last week Republicans in the House 
released a bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act and cut Medicaid to 
the bone. On Tuesday, the Congressional Budget Office--those are the 
independent budget experts who analyze policies under consideration 
here in Congress--estimated that the plan would rip health insurance 
coverage away from 24 million Americans and cut $880 billion in the 
Medicaid program. And as a bonus, the plan provides hundreds of 
billions of dollars in tax breaks for the rich. Who comes up with a 
plan like this? What kind of healthcare bill has, as its central 
feature, ripping away health insurance from tens of millions of 
American citizens?
  What kind of politician thinks they were sent to Congress to destroy 
the financial stability of millions of middle-class families and give 
wealthy donors a tax break that they certainly don't need? Who thinks 
that the central problem in America is that middle-class families have 
too much healthcare coverage and that the richest people in America 
need government to hand them more money? There is no other way to say 
it: This bill is just part of a Republican plan to help the rich get 
richer and kick dirt in everyone else's face.
  This bill is an economic disaster, and at its center, it is cruel--
cancer survivors losing coverage, seniors facing premium increases of 
$12,000 a year, people with disabilities forced into nursing homes. And 
one of the cruelest things is what this bill will do to individuals, to 
families, and to communities struggling with the opioid crisis.
  Last year in Massachusetts, nearly 2,000 people died from opioid use. 
That is more than double the number who died in 2013. That is right, 
double. Between 2014 and 2015, Massachusetts had a bigger jump in its 
death rate from drug overdoses than any other State except North 
Dakota.
  Last week, I was on the front lines in Lynn Community Health Center, 
where dedicated staffers are trying to meet this opioid epidemic head 
on. This week, I went to Manet Community Health Center, where a 
coordinated team in Quincy is battling the opioid crisis. While I was 
there, I not only met with the professionals, I saw the mamas and the 
babies, the people who are in recovery, and people who reach out to 
those who are still in the grip of drugs. The opioid crisis isn't 
happening to someone else's family or in someone else's community. It 
is happening to our families in our communities, and we need to do more 
to stop this plague before it takes another of our loved ones.
  We need to do more; what we absolutely cannot do is less. We cannot 
take away the resources already committed to fighting the opioid crisis 
so that some millionaire can get a tax break. Current law, the ACA, 
requires all insurance plans to cover substance use disorder treatment 
and prevention as an essential health benefit. That means that your 
insurance company can't turn off the access to treatment just when you 
need it most by saying: Sorry, we just don't cover that. Current law, 
the ACA, gave people the chance to get that insurance through health 
exchanges and subsidies. Millions more people got private insurance. 
And through Medicaid expansion, millions more were covered by Medicaid. 
So there it is, our first line of defense in the war on opioid 
addiction.
  The ACA currently means that more people are covered, and that 
coverage includes substance abuse treatment. What does the Republican 
plan do? It takes away coverage for 24 million people. That is 24 
million people who no longer have any access to substance use disorder 
treatment and prevention services. And then they want to let insurance 
companies jack up the out-of-pocket costs for substance abuse programs 
and mental health programs. In fact, some Medicaid plans would be able 
to drop this coverage altogether. So millions more people would lose 
their one lifeline if someone in their family is taken by drugs.
  Don't get me wrong. What we are doing right now is not enough. Even 
now, only 10 percent of those who need treatment for substance use 
disorder receive it and 90 percent can't get help, but that means we 
need more, not less help.
  Repealing the protections for mental health and substance use 
disorders in the ACA would yank more than $5 billion in actual funding 
that is currently going to mental health and treatment services. That 
is the Republican plan to deal with the opioid crisis. Ask any family 
trying to get treatment for a loved one who is addicted to drugs. We 
already have an opioid treatment gap. Gutting the ACA is like shoving a 
stick of dynamite into the treatment gap and then lighting the fuse. 
And if the Republicans get their way, people will lose health coverage. 
People will lose access to recovery services. People will die.
  Now is the time to stop this cruel bill in its tracks before it hurts 
real people. Now is the time to speak out about the importance of the 
ACA and Medicaid to you and to your family.
  If you or someone you know has been touched by the opioid epidemic, 
you know how much this matters. Maybe you have a sister, a child, a 
church member, or a high school friend who has struggled with substance 
use disorder. Maybe you know someone who has fought on the frontlines 
of this crisis as a healthcare provider, community advocate, as a first 
responder.
  If you do, then you know the stakes in this debate over the ACA and 
Medicaid. Now is the time to act. Don't wait. If the Republicans end up 
destroying help for millions of people, don't wake up the next morning 
and wonder if you could have said more or if you could have raised your 
voice back when it mattered. No, the Republicans are trying to pass 
this terrible healthcare bill now, now is the time to speak out. It is 
time to stand up and to tell Republicans to end their cruel healthcare 
plan. Our families and our communities are counting on us and we cannot 
let them down. Please, speak out.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.

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