Commerce, Justice, Science, Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, Interior, Environment, Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. WARNER. Madam President, I am here today because protections for Americans with preexisting medical conditions are under attack from this administration. For the last 3 years, this President has used every tool at his disposal to try to undermine the ACA. He tried to repeal it twice through Congress. When that failed, the administration joined a lawsuit that would strike down the ACA with no plan to replace it.

The truth is, this administration is, unfortunately, actively working to destabilize the insurance market. One way the administration is attempting to undermine the ACA is with the so-called ``short-term plans,'' which I would refer to--and, frankly, I think most Americans if they saw the criteria in these plans would not call them short-term plans--and I would call them junk plans. Thanks to this administration, these junk plans allow insurance companies to once again discriminate against Americans with preexisting conditions.

Make no mistake, these plans are a threat to the stability of the insurance market and to every American with a preexisting condition. That is why I have introduced a resolution that will force an up-or- down vote on the administration's rule that pushes more of these junk plans on unsuspecting consumers and, consequently, significantly increases costs for other Americans.

I fear some Members of this body have forgotten what it was like before the Affordable Care Act, when an unexpected surgery or a diagnosis of a chronic illness could mean a one-way ticket out of the middle class.

Unfortunately, this is not a hypothetical. Recently, one of my constituents, a man named Jesse, received a $230,000 medical bill for his back surgery. Unbeknownst to him, he had purchased a plan that he thought would cover this, but this plan, unfortunately, was a junk plan that considered his back injury as preexisting.

Jesse is one of the more than 3 million Virginians with a preexisting medical condition.

I have three daughters. Two of my three daughters have preexisting medical conditions that would not be covered under these junk plans.

Today I want to share some of those stories to remind my colleagues of what real people will face if we allow the administration to continue dismantling these protections that folks count on.

Recently I got an email from Linda in Warren County, VA. She is a cancer survivor with multiple preexisting conditions. She wrote:

Due to the housing fallout in 2008, we lost our healthcare coverage and I could no longer get health coverage because of my cancer diagnosis.

Mindy from Henrico, around Richmond, is also a cancer survivor. She writes:

Even though my cancer is in partial remission, I remain on treatment for fear of the cancer returning again. As I prepare for retirement, it scares me to think that this cancer would be considered a pre-existing condition and I could be denied healthcare or would be required to pay through the nose for insurance.

Sharon in Norfolk told me about her struggle with behavioral health issues. She wrote:

I am a functioning member of society, however that will not last long if I lose this access to medical help. I went off my medications in 2000 as I couldn't afford a doctor and medication . . . and it was a very thin line between me and homelessness.

Justine from Loudon County is worried that she could lose coverage for her diabetes care. Here is her message for the Members of this body:

What if you or a loved one was diagnosed with a ``pre- existing condition?'' How would you feel about being denied health coverage?

It is a good question that Justine asks, and that we should all ask ourselves. As a father, as I mentioned, I have dealt with the scary reality of having a child with juvenile diabetes and a child with asthma, but I am also an extraordinarily lucky individual, and I knew that because of the insurance and because I had the resources, they would be taken care of. That is not the case for many of the 3 million Virginians who have preexisting conditions or the countless tens of millions of Americans.

Katherine in Blacksburg, VA, told me about her daughter who was diagnosed at age 3 with juvenile diabetes. She wrote:

Until there is a cure for diabetes, I cannot imagine how costly it would be for her to stay alive and manage her health if there are limitations on coverage for people with pre-existing conditions.

Katherine's daughter deserves access to healthcare just as much as my daughter does.

I got a letter from a pharmacist in Abingdon, in far southwest Virginia, named Michael. He treats diabetics every day, and he also knows what it is like because he has lived with the disease for 38 years.

He writes:

Without insulin we will die. . . . If coverage for pre- existing conditions goes away, you will see a large decline in the health of type 1 diabetics, and more dependence upon Medicaid.

This is not only somebody who has dealt with diabetes for 38 years, but he is also a knowledgeable consumer. He is a pharmacist.

I have too many of these stories to share them all today, and I see my friend, the Senator from Washington State. She and other of my colleagues will be coming to the floor today and over the next few days until we have a chance to vote on this CRA, to share stories as well of what we will do to Virginians, Washingtonians, Tennesseans, and Americans all across this Nation if we go back to a time when we did not protect people with preexisting conditions.

One or two more quick stories. James from Danville, VA, told me about his 10 separate preexisting conditions. Lynn from Lynchburg is on three separate medications due to a brain tumor. She could die if her insurance coverage didn't cover those medications, and the list goes on.

In closing, when we talk about preexisting conditions, we are talking about people's lives. That is why we must pass the resolution I have introduced to reverse the administration's harmful rule changes and defend protections for folks with preexisting conditions.

I think virtually every one of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle have said they absolutely want to protect folks with preexisting conditions. Even for folks who otherwise completely don't agree with the ACA, that is the one part of the ACA that folks have agreed upon.

Well, next week we are going to have a chance to move past talk, to move past statements, to actually go on the record with an up-or-down vote, to go on the record to say that we are going to protect provisions of the ACA that made sure that folks with preexisting conditions weren't discriminated against, or we will go on the record saying: No, what the administration is doing is all right.

These short-term or junk plans sound good until you realize you are not getting the kind of coverage that you thought you were buying. We will have that decision point come next week.

I ask my colleagues across the aisle who believe and say they support protections for folks with preexisting conditions, well, they will have a chance to go on the record next week. I hope they will. I hope we will pass overwhelmingly this CRA and make sure that protections for folks with preexisting conditions are maintained.

I can't think of an issue that is more important to so many families all across Virginia, and, for that matter, all across the country.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source