National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019--Conference Report

Floor Speech

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Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, last year, around this time, millions of Americans were mobilizing, marching, calling, and writing with a simple, straightforward demand. They demanded the U.S. Senate stand up to Donald Trump and protect the nearly 30 million Americans who were at risk because the Republican Party was hell-bent on destroying the Affordable Care Act, the ACA.

With a vote on repealing the Affordable Care Act looming late in the evening, I came to the Senate floor that night intending to stand with the thousands of Hawaii residents who wrote or called my office with a sense of urgency to save their healthcare.

I wasn't scheduled to speak that evening. I had already spoken many times previously about the importance of healthcare. As the debate wore on, much of it focused on healthcare in the abstract. I felt compelled to talk about the immediacy of healthcare because of what I was experiencing.

Two months earlier, I had been diagnosed with kidney cancer during a routine examination. It is a moment everyone dreads, but it is also a moment nearly every family in this country has experienced at some point. Even as I reckoned with what came next--two surgeries and now ongoing immunotherapy--I knew I was fortunate. I had health insurance that allowed me to focus on my treatment rather than worrying about whether I could afford the care that would save my life.

Every American deserves the same peace of mind because healthcare is a right, not a privilege just for those who can afford it. During my treatment, I was heartened by the kind words of support by my colleagues from both sides of the aisle. Many share stories about how cancer touched their lives. For some, it was a personal battle. For others, it was a child, a parent, or a spouse.

I was touched by their compassion. It meant a lot to me to know so many people were pulling for me. I was dismayed that evening on the Senate floor because the empathy my colleagues showed me did not extend to the millions of people who would lose their healthcare if the ACA was repealed that night.

I rose that night and implored my Republican colleagues to show the same compassion to the American people that they showed me by voting against the repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

In a dramatic late-night vote, we joined together across party lines to save healthcare for millions of Americans, but the fight was not over. There was the hope that we could come together to improve our Nation's healthcare system.

We got off to a good start, with Senators Murray and Alexander's good-faith negotiations on a plan that would have helped stabilize insurance markets and provide a path forward to strengthening our country's healthcare system.

Instead of embracing this bipartisan effort and proposal, Donald Trump and Republican leaders doubled down on their efforts to destroy and dismantle the ACA, no matter the consequences.

Last October, Donald Trump announced he would halt all cost-sharing reduction payments that helped keep plans more affordable. In December, congressional Republicans eliminated the ACA's individual coverage requirement as part of a massive tax giveaway to the wealthiest 1 percent of the people and corporations in our country--a tax break, by the way, they didn't even ask for.

With that, 10 million Americans stand to lose their coverage, and millions more will see their premiums rise as a result. Earlier this year, the Trump administration made it easier for insurance companies to offer minimal--minimal--insurance plans to consumers. These plans are called junk plans for a good reason because they don't require insurers to cover some pretty basic essential health service benefits-- things as basic as annual physicals, trips to the emergency room, or prescription drug coverage. In other words, your junk plan will not provide coverage if you really get sick.

Two weeks ago, the President announced a draconian cut to the ACA's navigator program--a program that helps people sign up for healthcare coverage. In Hawaii, funding for ACA navigators is a particularly critical tool for outreach to the COFA community, and these are citizens of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau living and working in the United States as part of our Compacts of Free Association with these countries.

COFA citizens live, work, and pay taxes in the United States but face significant health challenges and difficulty accessing healthcare.

Under current Federal law, COFA citizens are ineligible for Medicaid. They are, however, eligible for subsidized healthcare coverage under the ACA. This is where the navigator program comes in. This program helps our COFA citizens navigate the enrollment process in their own language and helps to ensure they have access to the healthcare they need. Without access to the navigator program, the already underserved COFA citizen community will face new challenges accessing the care they need.

Last month, the Trump administration joined Texas and 19 other States suing to invalidate the ACA's core protections for Americans with preexisting conditions--illnesses like diabetes, asthma, or cancer. If the President and Texas prevail in this lawsuit--which will end up before the Supreme Court--nearly one in four Americans with preexisting conditions will be at risk of either losing their healthcare coverage altogether or find it unaffordable.

Healthcare is one reason I have deep reservations about the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Judge Kavanaugh was nominated by a President who has openly bragged about all the things he has done to gut the Affordable Care Act and who expects his judicial nominees to share his views.

In our democracy, every elected leader faces a reckoning with their voters. This year, the American people are sending us a clear message to protect their healthcare. They are standing up and speaking out because healthcare is not just some abstract concern for them. It is deeply personal for all of us. It is why healthcare is a top concern for our constituents all across the country--whether they are Republicans, Democrats, Independents, pro-Trump, or anti-Trump. Health insurance impacts every single one of us.

This is not a game. Lives are at stake. Our constituents are watching and demanding we listen and act to safeguard their healthcare, and they will hold us accountable if we do not.

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