Protecting Individuals with Preexisting Conditions

Floor Speech

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Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about healthcare and to ask that my colleagues join me in support of protecting individuals in America who have preexisting conditions.

We can, and we must do a better job in reducing costs and improving access to healthcare in America. Since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law in 2010, no provision has had a more significant impact on the health of Americans than protecting those with preexisting conditions.

In my district in 2010 in San Joaquin Valley in California, almost 25 percent of my constituents had no healthcare insurance whatsoever, and 17 percent were uninsured. Today, 9 years later, 10 percent of my constituents do not have healthcare insurance, and the ability to provide insurance for those who were underinsured has much improved.

Before the ACA, insurers could deny health coverage to many health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, or cancer.

How many of our families have preexisting conditions in those areas?

I submit most of us do. These denials often force families into decisions between paying for a loved one's treatment or keeping the lights on in their house. No family should be faced with such a choice.

Protections for preexisting conditions remain one of the popular parts of the ACA. These protections should not be weakened due to partisan politics. Working together in a bipartisan fashion is the only way we are going to get something enacted that will work for all Americans.

We can do better for the American people, and we should. That is what the folks in my 16th Congressional District in the San Joaquin Valley want me to do. They want me to help improve their healthcare. Wildfire Awareness

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Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I would like to discuss the importance of wildfire awareness. No State knows more about how important the subject is than California.

There is no longer a fire season in California. It suffers from fires, sadly, year-round resulting from many factors, including climate change.

Just last year California saw the deadliest wildfire in its history. The town of Paradise was decimated with more than 14,000 homes destroyed, and 85 people lost their lives. God bless them and their families.

There have been other fires in Santa Barbara, Mendocino, and the Yosemite Rim fire right in my own district's backyard.

We need to do more. For the first time in its 110-year history, the Forest Service says they will now dedicate more than half their budget to wildfire suppression efforts, which we have directed as a result of the farm bill last year.

To begin with, this requires better managing and caring for our forests.

This week, we will vote on an emergency supplemental to help communities affected by wildfires. I ask my colleagues to vote with me and pass this important legislation.

Let's do the right thing and help our fellow Americans rebuild their lives and their communities. At the same time, let's be more responsible stewards of our forests.

We know how to do it. Let's get started with our States, local governments, and the private sector.

Future generations deserve better management of forests throughout our country. I think we can do it if we work together.

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