State Health Care Premium Reduction Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. PANETTA. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1425, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act.

This comprehensive legislation will do what I have always said needs to be done to the ACA: It won't get rid of it, but it does fix it. This bill does that by lowering healthcare costs and raising access to quality healthcare, especially for those who need it the most.

We must do this now, more than ever, with COVID-19 numbers spiking and an administration that is trying to overturn the ACA and reduce healthcare access rather than expand it.

In my district on the central coast of California, the numbers of COVID-19 are growing, but impacting certain communities more than others. Nearly 80 percent of all COVID cases in Monterey County have been found to be in the Latinx community.

Across the Nation, Latinos make up 34 percent of the cases of COVID- 19, despite only representing 18 percent of the total U.S. population, while, nationally, Latinos have the highest uninsured rate. H.R. 1425 would fix that by eliminating barriers to affordable healthcare for Latinos and expanding coverage for DACA recipients.

This bill would improve healthcare for all Americans by increasing protections for people with preexisting conditions, strengthening the State marketplaces, expanded premium tax credits, and helping low- income postpartum women and children.

So I call on my colleagues to come together and vote for this bill because now, more than ever, it is time for us to do our job: Improve the Affordable Care Act so that we can provide the necessary healthcare to those who need it the most and everybody in our Nation.

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