Repeal of Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Floor Speech

Ms. CLARKE. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 45--To Repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. This legislation would completely repeal the Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law in 2010 and was declared constitutionally sound by the U.S. Supreme Court last year. The Affordable Care Act extends healthcare coverage to all Americans regardless of their gender, health condition or ability to pay.

It is a disgrace that this country, which is the wealthiest country in the world, denies universal healthcare coverage to its citizens. Repealing the Affordable Care Act will allow this disgrace to continue.

The Affordable Care Act is a good law. Because of the Affordable Care Act, Americans now have access to a wide variety of free preventive services; insurers can no longer drop women from coverage when they become pregnant; Medicare is stronger due to some of the cost savings and other provisions in the act; Seniors are paying less for prescription drugs; Americans no longer face lifetime limits on care; and families are receiving rebates from insurance companies, when they unfairly inflate their costs.

In fact, thousands of people in my district, the 9th Congressional District of Brooklyn, New York, are already benefiting from the Affordable Care Act. An analysis done in March of 2012 showed that the health care reform law had already:

Provided 390 small businesses in my district with tax credits to help maintain or expand health care coverage for their employees;

Provided 5,100 young adults in my district with access to health insurance coverage under their parents' insurance plan;

Provided Medicare preventive services, at no costs to the patient, for 46,000 seniors in the district;

And, provided $2.5 million in public health grants for community health centers, hospitals, doctors, and other healthcare providers in the district to improve the community's health.

I have always believed that healthcare is a fundamental right, not a privilege. And this is why I vehemently oppose H.R. 45--To Repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It is wrong, and it is a step backwards for our country.

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