May 8, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 76 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session
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Healthcare (Executive Calendar); Congressional Record Vol. 165, No. 76
(Senate - May 08, 2019)
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[Pages S2731-S2732] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] Healthcare Ms. BALDWIN. I rise today to talk about an issue that is top of mind for women in Wisconsin and across this country, and that is healthcare. Let's take a look at what we have seen from this President and congressional Republicans over the past 2\1/2\ years. There have been repeated attempts to repeal healthcare legislatively, which would result in the loss of healthcare for millions of Americans. The administration itself has acted in a way that undermines the Affordable Care Act, which frankly sabotages the guaranteed healthcare protections that millions of women and their families rely on. An ongoing lawsuit is making its way through the courts that would, if the administration had its way, result in overturning or striking down the Affordable Care Act. Last Saturday was May 4. It was actually the 2-year anniversary of House Republicans passing legislation that would repeal the Affordable Care Act. I remember that day, and, in particular, I remember watching the ensuing celebration, which was conducted at the Rose Garden at a press conference, among President Trump and Speaker Ryan and others. There was literally backslapping and high-fiving going on because they had taken the first step toward taking people's healthcare away. It was hard to believe. Just a few months later, we saw three courageous Republican colleagues in this Chamber--Senators McCain, Murkowski, and Collins-- join every Democrat in this Chamber in voting against repealing the Affordable Care Act. They listened to their constituents. They listened to the families in their States. I, too, voted to defeat that legislation that would have repealed the Affordable Care Act, and I have done likewise on a number of other particularly partisan efforts by President Trump or congressional Republicans that would have taken away some of the protections that the people of the United States and Wisconsin enjoy. I did so. I voted no on those efforts because the people of my State didn't send me here to take their healthcare away. They actually sent me here to work across party lines and make things better. Throughout that summer--that was the summer of 2017--individuals across this country stood up, and they called their elected representatives with one simple message: Protect our care. When congressional Republicans failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the Trump administration kind of doubled down and went to work, really undermining and sabotaging our healthcare system, rewriting some of the rules on guaranteed healthcare protections that millions of people rely on. For example, the administration ended something that we called the cost-sharing reduction payments. These were payments that helped lower out-of-pocket expenses for people participating in the Affordable Care Act exchanges, and this was a critical component. So when that was done, it meant that there were higher out-of-pocket costs for almost 90,000 Wisconsinites. The Trump administration also slashed funding for outreach efforts to help people know about the open enrollment periods and to know that they needed to sign up for the healthcare that is offered on the Affordable Care Act exchanges. Trusted navigator programs, like those in my State, have had their funding cut by nearly 90 percent in the past 3 years. These navigators programs are so helpful to people--particularly people in rural areas-- because they help to guide people through the process of obtaining affordable, comprehensive, healthcare protection and coverage. It means that when these programs are sabotaged, fewer people each year will be able to get the help they need to find and enroll in health insurance on the exchanges. The administration is also promoting something that I call junk plans. These are junk insurance plans. Why do I call them that? Because they are relieved of really having to do what you buy insurance to do. They do not have to cover people with preexisting conditions. They can say no, or they can charge a rate so high that no one could possibly afford it. They could have an annual limit or a lifetime limit, or they could simply carve out the preexisting condition and not offer coverage for it. These junk plans also have no obligation to cover any of the essential health benefits as identified in the Affordable Care Act. In Wisconsin, none of these junk plans are required to cover maternity care--none of them. This takes us back to the days before the Affordable Care Act, when no plans in Wisconsin's individual marketplace covered maternity care. Beyond just encouraging individuals to sign up for these bad and very limited policies, the administration supports allowing taxpayer dollars to subsidize these plans. So American taxpayers are potentially footing the bill for junk health insurance--some of which isn't really worth the paper it is written on. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office just announced that, as a result of these activities--the sabotage--2 million more people will be without health insurance by the year 2020. That is just around the corner. After the Affordable Care Act went into effect, we saw more Americans than ever before gain access to health insurance. But according to the Congressional Budget Office, during President Trump's tenure in the White House, 1 million more people each year will have lost health insurance. The Trump administration is literally taking us backward on this matter, and American families are paying the price. I wish I could say it stops here, but there is more. President Trump and Attorney General Barr are now taking sides in a case that is pending in the Federal courts. They are taking the position that the court should strike down the entire Affordable Care Act. This lawsuit threatens to take away guaranteed health protections and raise costs for Wisconsinites and, frankly, for all Americans who have preexisting health conditions. In Wisconsin, there are more than 2 million people in our State with some sort of preexisting health condition, and they would stand to lose their guaranteed protections. It would once again give insurance companies the power to charge women higher premiums than men or to deny health coverage for women who get pregnant because it is considered, by the way, a preexisting condition. Over the past few weeks, I have been meeting with Wisconsinites who, frankly, want to know why the President is working so hard to repeal or strike down or overturn their care, raise costs, and take away their protections. They are really frightened. They are frightened that if this lawsuit succeeds, insurance companies will again be able to deny coverage or charge higher premiums for the more than 133 million Americans who have some sort of preexisting health condition. I got to hear from Lindsey in Milwaukee, WI. Lindsey is a breast cancer survivor. She will be on hormonal therapy for another 2 years, and she will continue to need MRIs, mammograms, and blood work each year to be sure [[Page S2732]] that her cancer has not returned. Lindsey is worried that if the Affordable Care Act is repealed or overturned in court, she could lose her healthcare coverage because of a lifetime maximum, or she could be charged more because she has a preexisting condition. Just recently, I met with Grace in Green Bay. Grace is 15 years old, and she has been living with type 1 diabetes since she was just 2 years old. In order to manage her disease, she needs insulin and various other medical supplies that cost $1,500 per month. Right now those supplies are covered by her family's insurance, but Grace understands that, without the Affordable Care Act, her insurance company would again have the power to charge her more or deny her coverage because her diabetes is a preexisting condition, and she could also be at risk of reaching her lifetime limit. Grace and her mom are worried about the Trump administration's lawsuit to ask the court to strike down the Affordable Care Act. She is worried--they are worried--about Republican attempts to eliminate protections for people with preexisting conditions, and they know that President Trump has no plan to protect people with preexisting conditions. He never has, and I suspect he never will. The House recently passed a resolution that calls on the Trump administration to reverse its position on repealing the entire Affordable Care Act. Last year I heard several Senate Republicans promise to protect people with preexisting health conditions. More than one of my new Republican colleagues campaigned on it in 2018. Here is their chance to prove it. Let's vote on this resolution in the Senate so every Senator in this body can be on record protecting healthcare for people with preexisting conditions. It is time. It is time for Senate Republicans to take a stand against President Trump's sabotage so we can start working in a bipartisan way to expand coverage and lower healthcare costs. As I have said in this Chamber many times before, the people of Wisconsin want both parties in Congress to work together and to make things better by making healthcare more affordable and taking on rising prescription drug costs. I heard from countless Wisconsinites who are struggling to afford the prescription medication that they need to live, and prices keep going up year after year. Jackie from Muskego was diagnosed with an incurable blood cancer in August of 2015. She takes a drug called REVLIMID for her cancer, and her medication costs her up to $21,000 per year just to stay alive. Since the beginning of 2017, Celgene has increased the price of REVLIMID by nearly 25 percent. President Trump campaigned on lowering the cost of prescription drugs, but so far we are not seeing any results. It has been all talk. Instead, with his tax bill, President Trump gave drug companies a huge corporate tax break as they continued to increase the cost of prescription drugs. Pfizer, for example, got an estimated 11 billion dollars in tax breaks. Then, they announced that they were raising the list price of 41 of their prescription drugs that they manufacture. You know, it is time to take action, to hold these drug companies accountable, and it is why this week I am introducing a bipartisan plan with Senator Braun of Indiana to require basic transparency and accountability for drug companies that increase their list prices. Drug corporations are making prescription drugs more and more expensive with no systematic transparency for taxpayers. Meanwhile, American families, taxpayers, and our healthcare system are footing the bill for these price increases, and then are forced to pay more still at the pharmacy for the medications they need. We need greater transparency. We need greater accountability for drug corporations that are jacking up the costs for families in need of affordable, lifesaving treatments. I wanted to thank Senator Braun for working with me on this effort, as well as Senator Murkowski for joining this effort, because both Democrats and Republicans agree that prescription drug costs are too high in this country. So let's work together to bring relief to American families. I strongly believe that if both parties look past the partisan debate in Washington, we can find common ground on solutions that work for the American people, and I stand ready to work with any of my colleagues in the Senate on solutions that help to lower costs and expand healthcare coverage for our constituents. I yield back. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
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