Providing for Congressional Disapproval Under Chapter 8 of Title United States Code, of the Rule Submitted By the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Health and Human Services Relating to

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, it has been just over 2 years since the Senate voted down legislation that would have repealed the Affordable Care Act. If we had voted down the Affordable Care Act, that would have also erased the protections for Americans with preexisting medical conditions.

In the time since then, two things have happened. One, my colleagues from across the aisle have read the writing on the wall. They recognized that the American people support the protections for preexisting conditions on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis; and, two, the Trump administration released the rule that we are discussing today--a rule that would allow taxpayer dollars to subsidize these short-term junk plans that actively undermine the insurance market and jeopardize the one very popular part of the ACA, protecting folks with preexisting conditions.

I know that my colleague, Senator Baldwin, was here earlier, and Senator Brown, Senator Wyden, and Senator Murray. They have outlined in some detail the challenges around these junk plans, or some refer to them as short-term plans. The truth is, these plans don't have to cover things such as emergency room visits, maternity care, or other essential benefits, and they once again allow insurance companies to discriminate against Americans based on their medical history.

With all due respect to my Republican colleagues, you can't have it both ways. If you support protections for preexisting conditions, you can't sit by and let this administration dismantle them. You have to stand up and defend these protections because, as you know, folks in Virginia are depending on them and constituents in your States are as well.

Very shortly, each Member of this body will have a chance to go on the record with this resolution of disapproval.

I fear some Members of this body have forgotten what it was like before the ACA, 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. Earlier today, a group of us had a press conference where a young woman from my State came forward, and not only did her child have an enormous medical condition, but her husband was then diagnosed with lymphoma, and she was diagnosed with brain cancer.

Without the protections of the ACA, she testified she would not be able to afford healthcare coverage.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. WARNER. I will speed this up.

Let me also point out that, recently, one of my constituents, a man named Jesse, received a $230,000 medical bill for his back surgery. Unbeknownst to him, he purchased one of these so-called short-term junk plans only to discover that he now fell into the category of having a preexisting condition, and this plan didn't cover his challenge.

Jesse is 1 of the more than 3 million Virginians with a preexisting medical condition. Nationwide, more than 130 million Americans have preexisting medical conditions like diabetes, asthma, or cancer.

Before the Affordable Care Act, an insurance company had every right to deny these individuals coverage, charge them unaffordable premiums, or terminate their plans. We cannot go back to those days.

Unfortunately, this administration has used every tool at its disposal to destabilize the market in the hopes that it will come crashing down so they can finally repeal the ACA.

The rule we are talking about here today is a perfect example, among many others, of what this administration has done. They have defunded cost-sharing payments that reduce premiums in the marketplace. They have shortened the enrollment period and cut the budget for outreach navigators--all folks who have helped Americans find a plan that works best for them.

Look at the recent case. The Texas v. United States lawsuit that could be decided this very week would, overall, strike down the health insurance system as we know it, with no replacement plan in place.

The truth is, if these protections for people with preexisting conditions are going to survive, we have to have a stable insurance market.

We can and should have legitimate debates about 1332 waivers. Certain States have used those in a very productive way, but that is not what we are talking about today.

The Trump administration's rule is not a good-faith effort to bring down costs or drive innovation. It is a direct effort to undermine the stability of the insurance market and is an attack on the viability of protections for Americans with preexisting conditions.

Again, I know we are going to vote on this CRA action very shortly. I urge my Republican colleagues to support it so folks with preexisting conditions can go about their daily lives knowing they will be protected.

Thank you. I appreciate the courtesy of my colleagues giving me those extra couple of minutes.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source