Second Anniversary of the Affordable Care Act

Floor Speech

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I stand here in the same spot where I was about 2 years ago, March 23, 2010, to celebrate the passage of one of the most important acts that this body has ever passed: the Affordable Care Act.

On March 23, we will celebrate the 2-year anniversary of that landmark decision. Of course, next week the Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether the individual mandate is permissible or not. Let us hope that the Supreme Court will act according to the law.

The Affordable Care Act will change the landscape of our Nation's health care delivery system for the better. I hosted a telephone town hall last night with my constituents on the Affordable Care Act and was joined by the Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services, Bill Corr, to answer questions from folks in my district about how it will affect them.

We listened to comments and stories about people who have been in the doughnut hole, seniors, that cost them a lot of money. We told them about the fact some of them knew that once they go into the doughnut hole--after they spend about $2,500 or $2,700 and up to about $5,000 you go into that hole--that the moneys will be paid for, for generic drugs, with a 50 percent discount because of the Affordable Care Act. That is extremely important for citizens and others with high drug prices.

Children will be able to stay on their parents' insurance, if they choose to, up to the age of 26, which didn't happen before; and that's so important for young people and for parents to know the security that their children will be insured if they have a health care crisis.

Doctors will be able to see seniors for preventative care without cost. That's happening right now for those on Medicare and will happen for everybody in 2014 when the law goes into effect for all--mammograms, colonoscopies, shots for children, vaccinations, et cetera.

The insurance companies will no longer be able to have lifetime limits on how much people can use their insurance in case of illness.

There will be a consumer-friendly exchange where you can shop for prices for insurance and compare insurance policies to get what's best for you.

You can't arbitrarily be dropped from coverage by your insurance company simply because you get sick, and preexisting conditions will no longer be a basis to deny somebody insurance. Already today, for children up to the age of 19, preexisting conditions cannot stop you from getting insurance.

I had polio when I was a child. I would not like to think of any child that gets an illness such as that today, whether it be diabetes or cancer or any other illness, to be denied insurance because of a preexisting condition. That, because of the Affordable Care Act, will not occur in the future in this country.

Insurance companies have taken people off of insurance because they've used too much in a year or too much in a lifetime, and that's going to stop.

The idea of getting preventative care, which Medicare provides now and all will have in the future, will lead to lower health care costs because, if you catch illnesses early, it's much more cost efficient to treat them, and lives will be saved as well.

Insurance companies are required to spend at least 80 percent of their moneys on treating patients, not on executive pay, advertising, administrative costs, or other such costs to the consumer; and if they go over that in any way whatsoever, the consumer will get a rebate. Insurance companies must now publish justifications for any premium increases they are seeking of more than 10 percent on the Internet, and outside experts will evaluate whether those increases are justified. The consumer will be protected.

The doughnut hole ending, which I talked about earlier, has helped 3.6 million seniors receive discounts of $2.1 billion, each senior saving an average of $604.

The preventative care services I mentioned under Medicare, 32.5 million seniors have already received one or more of those preventative services; and youngsters have received them as well because they get preventative care in their vaccinations without having to have a copay, which might stop their parent from taking them to the doctor to get those vaccinations which can prevent illnesses later.

Seniors are now receiving free annual wellness visits under Medicare, and 2.3 million seniors in traditional Medicare have already taken advantage of the new annual wellness visit.

Young adults stay on their insurance, as I mentioned; 2.5 million additional young people have gained insurance over the last year.

Paul Krugman wrote in yesterday's New York Times that what is called by the Republican Party ObamaCare--which really, if you think about it, is a good thing, Obama cares, but it's not intended to be by them as, really, Obama-RomneyCare, because the plan we adopted is based upon what Mitt Romney did in Massachusetts to make sure that the people of Massachusetts bought insurance and the burden was shared in an appropriate way.

Thank you, Mitt Romney. Thank you, President Obama. Thank you, United States American Congress.

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