Rep. Pelosi Issues Remarks at Press Conference on Impact of Dismantling ACA on Seniors
Democratic Leader
Leader Pelosi's Opening Remarks:
"Thank you very much, John, for your kind introduction, but importantly, for sharing your story with us, which is the story of so many people in our country. I want to thank
"Jody, thank you for sharing your story with us - and John, as I said to you, as well. I'll be happy to introduce someone from
"But first, I want to acknowledge that in addition to our Co-Chairs, we have a large number of Members who are Vice Chairs and supporters of the
[Members' introduction and applause]
"When we initiated the Affordable Care Act - and that title, 'affordable' was our goal and our purpose because the rising cost of health care in our country was totally unsustainable - unsustainable to individuals, to families, to small businesses, to corporate America and certainly, to city, states and the federal government's budgets.
"So, the point was to make it affordable. So the three purposes were - the affordability driving it all - to improve the quality of care, to expand the access to it and to lower the cost. On all three scores, the Affordable Care Act succeeded. Would we like to do more? Yes - in all three of those areas. Part of it all, though, was how we addressed
"Under the Affordable Care Act, we were able to find savings of
"Did you know that 50 percent - at least 50 percent of the funds used for nursing homes are funds that come from
"So what do
"Instead, what they're doing is what I call 'cut and run.' Cut the benefits, and run away from it. Cut the access to
"Before the Affordable Care Act, hospitals had to bear the brunt of uncompensated care, to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars nationally. In your communities, my colleagues, my friends - see what it does to hospitals there. They want to cut that covering of compensation for uncompensated care to hospitals. Cut and run.
"But, I am very, very encouraged by what I see across the country of people understanding what it means to them in their lives.
"My friend's grandchild was diagnosed, a week or two ago, with Leukemia - three years old. He would have a pre-existing medical condition for the rest of his life. Lifetime limits - that could be gone. Cut the lifetime limit benefit, and run.
"So, it is - whether a child or - a woman, as was said by my colleagues. No longer being a woman is a pre-existing medical condition. Cut the advantage to women, and run.
"People understand - whether it is people in the mental health community, people in the disabilities community, addiction community, opioids community, people who deal with children and seniors and families and etc. - everyone understands, the hospitals, providers understand we need them to speak up to their Members of
"So, I think there is plenty of reason to be hopeful because while the
"As we go forward, it's important for us to define what is there and what would be lost. I think it's easier to win a fight when something is going to be taken away from you, rather than just grabbing something that might happen in the future that is positive. So, we feel pretty confident about where we are - in this past week, working with the
"My privilege now, though, is to introduce a constituent from
Leader Pelosi's Closing Remarks:
"Once again, I thank our special guests. As I say at all of these meetings: when people come to share their stories - personal or the story of their administering to the needs of our constituents - they are our VIPs. Thank you. And I thank our colleagues.
"So, Bobby would love to answer any questions that you may have. Any questions? Yes, sir."
***
Q: If the
Leader Pelosi. I am the last person to ask about what the
"Does anybody have any idea?
[Laughter]
"I don't think they have any idea. The
"Let me just make one point - we were talking about this earlier. To our friends in the press, who keep repeating - some - that this was done without any reaching out to the
"So, when the press says, 'Oh, too bad the President didn't reach out.' He reached out all the time, as did we. We had scores of hearings in which all amendments were treated the same. Some Democratic amendments were accepted, some Republican amendments were accepted. Some were modified on both sides, and some were rejected on both sides. And the President kept calling people together - in public sessions at the Blair House and the rest. 'Tell us your suggestions.'
"So they are ideologically - and for some reason didn't want to support what
Q: At Speaker Ryan's press conference this morning, he talked a lot about his belief that a lot of the repeal could be done on the executive level of regulations in HHS. Are there certain parts of what you're talking about today that you are most concerned could be rolled back through regulations if
Leader Pelosi. Well, they don't talk to us until they're confirmed. That's the way it is around here. But what I'm concerned about is that Secretary-designate Price voted to privatize
"So what they have said in the past is of concern to me. Until we see what they intend to do, I have no comment on it. But my colleagues...
"
"But in terms of the - you're asking about the - repealing parts, here is the problem that they have: that all of the parts are like a puzzle that was carefully crafted and put together. And you take a piece out, and it no longer works. And that's what they're coming to realize. And so when the President-elect says, 'Oh, there's going to be a repeal and then, almost simultaneously, a replacement' - they have had six years to come up with something, and they've come up with exactly nothing. And that's because when they start saying, 'Oh, we like the pre-existing condition part of it,' or 'we like having the young people on their parents' policies,' and 'we like' and 'we like' and 'we like.' And by the time you're done, you have Obamacare.
[Laughter and applause]
Q: As you know, more than half of the population [inaudible] HIV in
Leader Pelosi. Well, we have done it in terms of passing the Affordable Care Act, and I appreciate your recognizing how it affects people with HIV and AIDS. Of course, part of our initiative in the legislation was to reduce the disparity in terms of access to health care among groups in our country and reaching out to our minority communities. So, thank you for your leadership in that regard. That's very important to us.
"We're fighting to save the Affordable Care Act. That's our fight because it addresses much of what you have said. Thank you.
"Yes, ma'am.
Q: How can Democratic Ranking Members and Committee Members use the actual committee process in committees like Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce to sort of slow down or potentially make it more difficult to actually repeal the ACA?
"
"And when you talk about what is going to happen when the insurance market collapses for everybody - not just the 30 million that will lose their insurance overnight, but everybody that has insurance - will there be an insurance market? Because it will be
"And so, during the committee process, we will insist that we come up with the replacement before we repeal. And it's up to the media to ask the
Q: If I could ask a follow-up: if the, as you're saying the
"
"Before the Affordable Care Act, people would routinely go bankrupt if someone had a serious illness. It's up to the majority to recognize the fact that if they pursue, if they keep going in the direction they're going there will be
"Congresswoman
"So the public health outcomes in
"But we also need your help. Every advocate in the room, every person who's affected, every family and everyone in the media has to continue to put that information out. Because I'll tell you what happens when those contracts are cancelled. People weren't paying attention, until in fact your adolescent, nearly adult schizophrenic son lost their only access to a psychiatrist.
"Now the only thing that happens then is incarceration. Or a forensic, state institution. It's horrific. And that's if they live. So, we know what the risks are. You know what the risks are. You bet, we'll use every - Leader Pelosi is going to use every vehicle at our disposal to make sure that these issues are addressed over and over again.
Leader Pelosi. Thank you very much Congresswoman
"But no matter how much we maneuver here, nothing is more important than the outside mobilization.
"But what they should take notice of is the fact that most Americans get their health care through their insurance policies at the workplace. And those policies are going to go up, benefits are going to shrink, jobs will be lost, the hospitals will be deprived of funding. Corporate America will pay more and that's where it hits home for them.
"So again, we can't do what we can do here unless we have the outside mobilization, and in the meetings we've been having we feel very confident that not just progressive
"So, the impact is felt in the marketplace as
"Do we have time for one more? Is that what you said? Okay one more question.
Q: Are Democrats then ruling out working with
Leader Pelosi. Well let's see what they have to offer. You're asking me how I'm going to vote for it sight un-seen? Nonetheless, we have to see what they put forth. That's what it is.
"Right now, their proposal, the Republican proposal right now is cut and run. Cut benefits, cut savings, cut jobs, cut
"So we are very excited for that prospect as we go forward and we reject cut and run, we accept the Affordable Care Act. Affordable - that's its title. And I thank
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