Protecting Coverage for Preexisting Conditions

Floor Speech

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Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, last Thursday, June 7, the Attorney General of the United States, Jeff Sessions, announced that: ``After careful consideration and with the approval of the President of the United States,'' his lawyers joined the State of Texas in Federal Court in a lawsuit to strike down standing provisions of the Affordable Care Act that protect patients from being denied health insurance coverage because of preexisting medical conditions.

This stunning announcement was made despite the fact that Congress has not, and I repeat, has not repealed this part of the law, which is right here, page 1 of the Affordable Care Act, and despite the fact that President Trump and the Republican leaders have repeatedly promised to leave this section of the law alone.

The President, in his 2017 State of the Union said: ``First, we must ensure that Americans with preexisting conditions have access to coverage.''

Speaker Ryan: ``We are on a mission to make sure that everyone has access to affordable healthcare, especially those with preexisting conditions.''

The Representative who is the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee that writes healthcare laws stated: ``We've talked about the protection for those with preexisting illnesses for the last year, and we're not going to budge either.''

Thursday's announcement by President Trump's Attorney General to attack preexisting condition protections as unconstitutional, and the deafening silence over the last 5 days in the wake of that announcement from GOP leaders in the House, shows that all those heartfelt comments and words were nothing more than crocodile tears.

From day one, the push to repeal the Affordable Care Act with no meaningful replacement, and last week's latest attack, shows this President and his political allies in Congress just plain don't care about the millions of Americans who struggle with medical conditions that they have no control over.

Mr. Speaker, this issue is not just a Washington, D.C., political squabble. It is not just a courtroom battle between lawyers. It goes to the heart of whether we, as a Nation, will join the rest of the developed world to treat all Americans for disease, accidents, and chronic illness in a fair and just manner.

Here are the facts. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, up to 133 million Americans have conditions that insurance companies, using the old rules of medical underwriting, defined as preexisting conditions, conditions like diabetes; cancer; high blood pressure, which I have; epilepsy; MS; Parkinson's; stroke, to name just a few. Again, this is the list that insurance companies use to screen people for whether or not they would actually deny them coverage at all, no matter how big a subsidy or no matter how much money you had to pay.

Last year, during the debate on repeal, I heard from constituents in my district who benefited from the Affordable Care Act protections, like Michelle from Killingworth who said: ``Before the ACA, I tried to buy affordable health coverage, but I was turned down by major insurance companies due to preexisting conditions.''

Patricia from Old Saybrook: My adult daughter has a chronic disease that costs over $10,000 every 6 weeks to treat. Our insurance is a godsend.

Richard from Killingworth, a 63-year-old former educator who sustained TBI in an accident and was treated for prostate cancer: ``Thankfully, due to the Affordable Care Act, I have been able to access healthcare that I need.''

Michele from Preston, she and her husband rely on ACA coverage.

This decision by the Attorney General last Thursday cannot and must not stand, and the voters in November will remember if this body does not act to protect people, their health coverage, for preexisting conditions.

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