Rep. Trahan, House Vote to Expand Access to Affordable Health Care

LOWELL, Massachusetts, June 30 -- Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Massachusetts, issued the following news release:

Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03) applauded the House's passage of H.R. 1425, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act that will build on the Affordable Care Act by lowering health costs and driving down prescription drug prices. Passage of this legislation comes just days after the Trump Administration asked the Supreme Court to eliminate the entirety of the ACA without a replacement plan for the 23 million Americans who would lose their health insurance.

"Even in the middle of a global pandemic, the President continues to put the most vulnerable in our communities at risk," Congresswoman Trahan said. "While the Trump Administration attempts once again to kick 23 million people off their health insurance, the House has taken action to expand coverage and lower health care costs for working families. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act will keep millions of Americans safe and healthy, and Mitch McConnell should bring it to the Senate floor for a vote without delay."

H.R. 1425 significantly increases the ACA's affordability subsidies to extend coverage to more middle-class and working families. For the first time, no person will have to pay more than 8.5 percent of their income for a benchmark silver plan in the ACA marketplaces, and many Americans will see their premiums cut in half or more, meaning:

* A family of four earning $40,000 would save nearly $1,600 in premiums each year;

* A 64-year-old earning $57,420 would save more than $8,700 in premiums each year;

* A single adult with income of $31,900 would see premiums cut in half; and

* An adult earning $19,140 would see premiums cut to zero, saving $800 dollars per year.

The legislation also negotiates for lower prescription drug prices, delivering the power to negotiate lower drug prices so that Americans no longer have to pay more for lifesaving medication than Big Pharma charges for the same drugs overseas.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act also expands coverage, pressing Medicaid expansion hold-out states to adopt coverage for the 4.8 million Americans currently excluded from coverage, while restoring the outreach and advertising funding that the Trump Administration has slashed to prevent Americans from learning about the affordable health coverage available to them under the ACA.

The bill combats inequity in health coverage faced by communities of color, expanding more affordable coverage to vulnerable populations and fighting the maternal mortality epidemic by requiring states to extend Medicaid or CHIP coverage to new mothers for a full year postpartum.

Finally, H.R. 1425 cracks down on junk plans & strengthens protections for 130 million Americans, including more than 320,000 people in Massachusetts' Third District, with pre-existing conditions, by reversing the Trump Administration's expansion of junk health insurance plans that do not provide coverage for essential medical treatments and drugs and that are allowed to discriminate against people with pre-existing medical conditions.

A fact sheet on the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act is available HERE (https://trahan.house.gov/uploadedfiles/affordable_care_enhancement_act_-_fact_sheet.pdf).