On Fox News Sunday, Leader Pelosi Calls for Bipartisan Solutions to Improve the Affordable Care Act
Leader Pelosi also discussed Democrats' new economic agenda ‘A Better Deal' which offers a bold range of policy proposals to create good paying jobs, lower the cost of living and create an economy that gives every American the tools to succeed in the 21st Century.
Below are the highlights.
On Democrats' bold economic agenda ‘A Better Deal'
"For the first time since 2006, the House, the Congressional Democrats are in charge of the message. In '06, we were in charge of the message, we won. We had a Democratic president and after that in '08 and from that time on, a very successful presidency. Now it's our turn to win the Congress for the American people."
"Elections are about more than winning the election, they're about winning on the issues. If the American people can hold, all of us, Democrats and Republicans accountable, for what is in their interests instead of a trickle-down agenda that really benefits the high end at the expense of working families, that's why ‘A Better Deal' is important and it's entrepreneurial in its thinking, its fresh in terms of what it suggests."
On Updating and Improving the Affordable Care Act
"The American people have spoken. Think what you saw was just an outpouring of stories of how the Affordable Care Act affected their lives. Where do we go from here?"
"People see what it means their life and I think it's really important for us to recognize the facts here, that what the Republicans are putting forth put 17, 22 or 23 million people off the rolls, diminished the benefits, increased the costs, had an age tax, undermined Medicare and really was not a good proposal. I think that there is – in Senator [Mitch] McConnell's – one of his bills that he had, the ‘repeal and replace' he had a provision that we can all embrace. It's a provision to cover the cost-sharing reductions, it extends the reinsurance, which is very important. It's about short-term stability, long-term stability, and I fully support that and hope that he would advance that."
"The Affordable Care Act is something that was very modeled after Romneycare and that said, ‘no free riders, everyone has to have insurance.' So if your neighbor's not buying insurance and you are, you are paying more because he or she is not. So this is about enlarging the pool and making it healthier, younger and having more benefits."
"When the President went into office, the really was an opportunity to say ‘you don't like this, how would you do this?' Instead they said ‘we are repealing the whole thing.' 22 million people off, costs will go up and benefits will go down. That's not a way to go down a path. So what I say in the letter is as a first step let us accept what Senator McConnell has in his bill, let us accept that and talk what other changes there are."
"I do believe – as I saw in one of your [segments] this morning – that health care is a right and not a privilege. The more people who are involved with the lower the costs are for everyone. There are some things we can do right away, lower the cost of prescription drugs, something I think would have bipartisan support."