Rep. Tsongas Speaks on House Floor About Local Family, ACA

WASHINGTON, Jan. 11 -- Rep. Niki Tsongas, D-Mass. (3rd CD), issued the following news release:

Today, Congresswoman Niki Tsongas spoke on the House floor about the positive impacts of the Affordable Care Act, as Republican leaders begin their process of dismantling the milestone health care law.

Congresswoman Tsongas spoke specifically about how the Affordable Care has helped one of her constituents from Harvard, Massachusetts who reached out proactively to the Congresswoman's office to express how the Affordable Care Act had helped her family. Congresswoman Tsongas acknowledged that there are parts of the Affordable Care Act that could be revised but urged Congress not to take away healthcare from millions and eliminate critical changes to the healthcare system put in place by the ACA.

Below is the text of the Congresswoman's remarks as prepared for delivery:

"Mr. Speaker, since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, millions of Americans have gained access to valuable health care services and every American has seen their health insurance benefits improve.

"While there are ways the Affordable Care Act can be improved, we cannot afford to go back to the days when big insurance companies had the power to decide what care Americans could receive, deny coverage to children with diagnosed conditions, cancel coverage when people got sick, and place limits on the amount of care people can receive.

"Last week, Carol Lodi from Harvard, Massachusetts in my District called and told her story. She and her husband gained health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act. She is 61. Her husband is 63. They are self-employed. She said "if we lose the insurance, we don't know what we'll do."

"Mr. Speaker, please listen to the Lodi family and millions of others families like them. Don't turn your back on them and make America sick again."

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