Affordable Care Act Success Stories

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, we have been in this huge debate around the Affordable Care Act for quite a while now. One of the things that I cannot ever forget is the health care nightmare stories that I listened to before we passed the Affordable Care Act. As I see so many of my Republican colleagues gleefully celebrate the difficulties with the Web site or cancelations and then think that that is going to somehow help them in an election, I can't think about any election. All I can think about are people like the people whom I want to share with you right now.

Let me tell you about Marty Olson. Marty built a small business creating marble sinks and countertops. He poured everything he had into his business, and it flourished. He became a job creator, in the language of some people. I call him a ``small business person.'' I call his customers ``job creators.''

Just a few years ago, he employed more than half a dozen employees. Recently, things changed drastically for him. Over the course of the last year, his 9-year-old daughter, Abby, was diagnosed with leukemia. She beat the odds and was in remission for 6 months until her cancer symptoms returned. She is now awaiting a bone marrow transplant. Mr. Olson spent time with his ailing daughter, and his business began to decrease.

He is now the sole employee of the marble business. Three months ago, he suffered a detached artery and had heart surgery. He is still recuperating from his surgery and losing his insurance on January 1 due to a divorce. He began to search for affordable health insurance, but most premium quotes were too much for him to afford. The implementation of the Affordable Care Act means he will not be denied insurance due to his preexisting heart condition. The health care exchange in Minnesota, mnsure.org, is allowing him to purchase a policy he can afford. Without the plans available on the Minnesota health care exchange, he likely would have to choose between health insurance or paying his other monthly bills.

When his business was growing, he often trained employees who increased his production, but sometimes lost that employee because he was unable to provide them with an adequate health care insurance plan. The small business exchange is there for him to use when his business grows again in the future.

Of course Marty is not by himself in this. Tracy Brock is another small business owner. She has presided over a small business for 21 years. She is able to earn enough to support herself and hire several part-time employees. However, her health insurance premiums have forced her to work six to seven days a week. Those high premiums, around $650 a month, prevent her from taking time to enjoy life and get some well-deserved rest. Her insurance premiums were taking most of her marginal profits. The assets from her business disqualified her from receiving any assistance with her premiums.

Tracy had the misfortune of being a cancer patient. She also needs knee replacement surgery, and Ms. Brock's business has not been as profitable recently so she continues to work every day despite her health condition. She began researching mnsure.org, the health care exchange available in Minnesota, and she found health plans with better coverage at prices that she can afford. Some plans she found were only 50 percent of the cost of her current premium. The additional coverage will give her more options to treat her conditions, and the savings will allow her to work less and enjoy life more.

I just want to say, Mr. Speaker, we shouldn't look at difficulties in the implementation of the Affordable Care Act as a political opportunity. We should never take our eye off the fact that we have citizens who desperately need something way better than we had before we had the Affordable Care Act. I wish Republicans would say, You know what, it is there. It is passed. The Supreme Court has said it is constitutional, and we are going to do everything we can to make it work even if we would do it different, and we will offer constructive improvements, but we are not going to sit back and just try to wreck it with poison pill bills like the Upton bill last week, or with the 47 attempts to repeal it, or with the myriad of other tricks, sabotage, and devices that they have employed.

It is time to help Americans like Marty Olson, like Tracy Brock, and like millions of other people, including one of my own interns, Abby Schanfield. Abby is an awesome young woman. She has had numerous surgeries since she was 10 months old. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, Abby is able to stay on her parents' insurance until she is 26, and her parents were able to pay premiums and copays that have given her access to the health care that she needs.

So for that and for many other reasons, I urge support of the Affordable Care Act.

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