Senator Stabenow Joins Senate Democrats to Hold the Floor, Calls on Republicans to Make Health Care Bill Public (VIDEO)
Last night,
"
Full text of
"Mr. President, I'm rising this evening to talk about an issue that affects every single person, every single family in
"And I feel very confident that I can say that each one of the 48 members of the
"But we're here, and I'm proud to be with colleagues tonight, because we are not willing to support anything that unravels the health care system, raises costs and takes away health care for people -- that on top of that gives a tax cut to the wealthiest Americans, insurance executives, pharmaceutical companies with the dollars that are cut.
"
"I'm the ranking Democrat on the Health Subcommittee of the
"So they're letting the
"If you have cancer and you're not going to be able to get coverage, if you're going to potentially be dropped or now a have a preexisting condition or get a cap put on the number of cancer treatments that you can receive, I believe you have a right to receive this bill.
"If you have epilepsy and will lose your insurance, you have a right to see this bill.
"If you're a woman who will be charged more for insurance and be considered to have a preexisting condition just because you are a woman, you have a right to see this bill.
"And if you're a senior whose rates are going to go skyrocketing upwards, you have a right to see this bill. But the sad fact is
"The difference in process couldn't be more clear between the way the Affordable Care Act was originally worked on for about 18 months and then passed, and what's happening right now.
"In 2009,
"As a new member of Finance at that time, I was involved in every single one of those. Hours and hours and hours of listening, deliberating and people sharing their opinions, debating. Counting the health committee deliberations, there were 100 hearings and committee meetings before the bill was finalized and debated to be reported out of committee. 100.
"The
"Until the end, we were trying to do everything we could to get bipartisan support when it was clear that politically there was not a desire even with 147 Republican amendments in the bill to have a bipartisan health care bill. But
"Now, our position is very clear. If there is no hearing, there is no vote. They need to show us the bill. But there's, I think, a really good reason that they won't show us the bill. They won't let us see it because it's a disaster for the American people. It's a disaster for people in
"From the House bill, we know that 14 million fewer people will be insured after the first year. 23 million fewer people will be insured after ten years. Now this may change somewhat back and forth. We have no idea. But we know the general framework that the
"We know that in 2026, according to the budget office, 51 million people -- 51 million people -- under the age of 65 will be uninsured. No insurance. We're told that premiums would go up 20% next year and states would be allowed to opt out of key insurance laws that protect consumers.
"To really understand what that means, that means all of the decisions about your care go back to the insurance companies. Not your doctor.
"You know, laws that protect people with preexisting conditions, gone. Rules that prevent women from being charged more, gone. Laws that prevent seniors from being charged more, gone.
"And the way it used to be is if you got sick, the insurance company could decide to drop you. It was the insurance company that said how many cancer treatments that you were able to receive or mental health visits, if any, you would receive. And you always paid more than for physical health. The same with addiction. This all goes away with what's being talked about here.
"In other words, costs are going to go up and care is going to go down. And to add insult to injury, all of this is going to go to tax cuts for multimillionaires and billionaires and drug companies and insurance company execs. While somebody is losing their nursing home care, their cancer treatments, maternity care, children unable to go to the doctor and parents forced to go back to using the emergency room.
"Mr. President, I want to share what these changes would mean for people in
"After her deductible and 10% copay, she said she quickly reaches the maximum out-of-pocket expense on her insurance each year. Amy wrote, 'Preexisting conditions, maximum out-of-pocket costs, lifetime caps are important to me. Without them, I could never afford my health care. Without the Affordable Care Act, I could quickly bankrupt my family and still die. Please consider my situation when deciding your vote on any changes to health care. I need your help. I want and need to stay alive and raise my children.'
"Health reform allows Amy to stay on her husband's insurance plan and pay for the cancer treatments that are keeping her alive. The Republican plan would put people with preexisting conditions, like cancer, at the mercy, again, of health insurance companies.
"Here's another way the Republican plan would hurt
"And what's the good news for the state of
"You know, the great thing about health care to understand is that if we ignore it, it doesn't mean people don't get sick, that they don't get cancer, they don't need to have a nursing home or that their child doesn't get sick.
"If you just ignore it, the costs go up because people ultimately use the most expensive ways to get treated. If you actually plan it out and do the right thing on the front end and people can see a doctor and they can get the checkups and the care that they need and the treatments they need, you actually save money. That's the example of the state of
"One young man in
"The Republican plan would end the Healthy Michigan plan, ripping coverage away from 650,000 people in
"In January, I led a forum on Secretary Price's health care policies and a woman told her story. Ann was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when she was 40 years old. She has very limited use of her arms and legs. We are so grateful that she made the trip to D.C. to share her story. Medicare and secondary insurance cover most of the costs of her medication, which costs an astonishing
"Fortunately, Ann's mom qualified for Medicaid -- which by the way three out of five seniors in
"Medicaid helped Ann care for her mom at the end of her life. This is a good thing. But again, the Republican plan would cut Medicaid by
"In conclusion,
"Costs go up, care goes down, all to cut taxes for millionaires and billionaires. We are better than this as a country. Our nation is better than this. It's time for
"Again, I know that the 48 Democratic senators in this chamber want to work on lowering the costs of prescription drugs and reducing out-of-pocket costs and helping small businesses that want to provide coverage for their employees and making the health care system better. Let's stop this bad bill and work together on behalf of the American people."
Read this original document at: https://www.stabenow.senate.gov/news/icymi-senator-stabenow-joins-senate-democrats-to-hold-the-floor-calls-on-republicans-to-make-health-care-bill-public_video
Menendez Demands Transparency in Secret GOP Healthcare Repeal Process
TESTER BLASTS SECRET PARTISAN HEALTH CARE PLAN
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News