Pelosi Remarks at Press Conference Ahead of One-Year Anniversary of Affordable Care Act
Washington, D.C. - Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats held a press conference today with Americans benefitting from the Affordable Care Act to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the law and highlight the rights and benefits millions of Americans are already seeing with its enactment. Below is a transcript of the press conference:
Leader Pelosi. Good morning. This is a very special month for us because 1 year ago we passed the historic Affordable Health Care Act, which has made a difference in the lives of the American people.
I'm very honored to be here with some of our very special guests, who will be introduced by our colleagues to tell their stories about how America's families and businesses are affected by the Affordable Health Care Act.
I am pleased to be here with my colleague Tammy Baldwin, who will present Elizabeth Harper, a graduate student now on her parents' plan. And with Congressman G.K. Butterfield; he is here with Libbie Hough. Her college age daughter has a pre-existing medical condition. Congressman Henry Cuellar, who is here with Don Orange, a small business owner from Vancouver, Washington; and Congressman John Sarbanes, who is here with Zaneb Beams, a pediatrician.
Because this legislation is about, of course, improving quality, lowering costs and expanding access, it's also about reducing the deficit and creating jobs; 4 million jobs created by this bill. And I'll talk more about that in a moment.
But I'm pleased to say that we are joined by those who know about delivering health care: the members of the American Nurses Association, the National Association of Hispanic Nurses, Doctors for America, and American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
As you all know, 1 year ago almost today, Congress passed the Affordable Care Act, making history for our country and progress for the American people. In doing so, we enacted legislation that creates jobs, strengthens the middle class and reduces the deficit--that is the three pronged test we put every initiative to. With this landmark law, we made health insurance and health care a right, not a privilege, for all Americans and by extending coverage to 32 million more Americans.
Many of you know the provisions of the bill, but some of them bear repeating, as we take pride that at the center of the health reform is the Patients' Bill of Rights, putting an end to the worst of the insurance industry's abuses, ensuring that insurance company bureaucrats cannot limit your medical choices.
For millions of Americans--students, seniors and entrepreneurs--this means no longer can insurance companies deny coverage to children with a preexisting condition. Soon insurers will not be able to discriminate against the 129 million Americans with a pre-existing medical condition.
No longer can insurers place a lifetime cap on health coverage or drop a patient because they get sick. What kind of insurance is that?
Young people can now stay on their parents' plan until they are 26 years old. Seems to be one of the best known and most popular parts of the bill, at least if you are under 26 or you have a child who is under 26.
Small business owners can get tax credits to cover their employees. Seniors are getting help paying for prescription drugs. And no longer will being a woman be a pre-existing medical condition. Important to all of us that under this legislation, if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.
This bill, you have heard misrepresentations about it. What I'm excited about, and what we have the opportunity to talk about now as the bill is becoming implemented, as it is rolling out, it is about innovation and prevention. It is about an entrepreneurial spirit toward medicine. It is about patient safety. It is about honoring what our founders called for: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, a healthier life to pursue the happiness that people want without being job locked. They can be creative, start a business, change jobs, do whatever their aspirations are without fear of losing insurance for themselves or for their families.
Now we're in a situation where Republicans want to roll back these reforms. They're voting to take away everyone else's insurance while they voted to maintain their own taxpayer funded insurance. They want to put insurance companies back in charge of Americans' health care. They want to pass off the costs to the American taxpayer - to the tune of $230 billion added to the deficit. Again, reducing the deficit is an important part of why we passed this health insurance in the first place.
From the start, health insurance reform was about people, their stories, their health, their economic security, and their future. Today we will hear the stories of more Americans already benefiting from this law, representing the millions who have struggled to pay their medical bills and now know that their medical futures are in their own hands.
Again, everything we do has to meet the test. It's about jobs. Does it create jobs? Health insurance reform creates 4 million jobs, and in the last 12 months the private sector has added 1.5 million new jobs, and of that a quarter of a million were in the health insurance industry.
It's about reducing the deficit, again, it reduces the deficit more than $1 trillion over the life of the bill. It is about strengthening the middle class. The legislation, again, is fundamentally about the health and economic security of America's middle class families and all who aspire to the middle class and about our small businesses.
And as we mark the first anniversary of this law, we will stay focused on creating jobs, and growing the economy, and ensuring that all Americans have access to affordable, quality health care whenever they may need it.
And not only about care, but about their good health. It's about a healthier America. And a champion for a healthier America is about to take the podium, Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, a person who worked very hard to make health care a right, not a privilege, in our country. Congresswoman Baldwin.
Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Leader.
I'm honored to represent the people of south central Wisconsin, which includes tens of thousands of college age students and young adults who are just starting out in the workforce, often in jobs that don't have health benefits.
Until now, one of the biggest worries these young adults and their parents had was their lack of health care coverage. That's why I worked so hard and was so insistent that the Affordable Care Act include a provision for young adults who had no coverage to be able to stay on their parents' plans until the age of 26.
Thanks to health care reform, young adults now have access to coverage, and their parents have one less thing to worry about. One of these young people is Elizabeth Harper. She is a 24 year old student from Sykesville, Maryland, earning her master's degree in public health at George Washington University. Liz was living without health insurance, but thanks to the new health care law, she is now covered under her father's plan.
Please welcome Elizabeth Harper.
Elizabeth Harper. Good morning, everyone. My name is Elizabeth Harper, and thanks to health care reform, I was able to join my parents' health plan this January. I would like to thank Leader Pelosi for giving me the opportunity to tell my story today.
As a young person, I know how much the new health reform law helps people like me. My story is not very heart wrenching, but it is very common. Because I left my job and my health insurance to return to school, I purchased a catastrophic plan so my parents wouldn't go bankrupt if something terrible happened, but the high deductible and low benefits meant that I couldn't afford things like everyday doctor visits. I worried about getting sick. And instead of focusing on my education, I worried about not having the right benefits. Not having insurance endangered my health and my future. Now that I can join my parents' plan, however, I'm confident that I'm back on the right track. My dad's family policy covers the care I need at a price we can afford.
I strongly support health reform not only because it has helped me in this way, but also because, as a public health student, I know how vital the new law is to young people across the country. We get injured, we get sick, but we often can't afford the care that we need.
That is why I am a member of Young Invincibles, a group that advocates for quality, affordable care for young Americans and all Americans. Thanks to health care reform, this goal is a real possibility. Thank you.
Congressman G.K. Butterfield. Let me say good morning and thank all of you for coming to this great occasion today.
With the passage of the Affordable Care Act 1 year ago--and I remember that day so well; it was a Sunday afternoon--Americans finally have the protections and peace of mind that they need and deserve.
You know, following that historic vote on that day, the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, came over to me and gave me a big hug, and thanked me for my support of this legislation, and told me that she knew that it was a very difficult vote for me, and she thanked me immensely for my support. And I quickly responded by telling Speaker Pelosi that I thought she knew me very well. We are friends. We are colleagues. And we have been friends for several years, and I thought she knew that this was probably the easiest vote that I have had to take in my congressional career.
And I repeat that story time and time again as I travel throughout my district, and each time I tell that story, I get a great ovation. So thank you very much for recognizing it.
Two of the most important protections relate to pre-existing conditions and lifetime caps. Those things are a big deal in the life of some families. Under the reforms, insurance companies will never again be allowed to arbitrarily cancel coverage when you get sick or refuse coverage because you suffer from a preexisting condition. Similarly under these reforms, insurance companies will never again, never again, be allowed to place lifetime limits on health coverage. As we debated this issue, I heard many personal stories about policies that were not worth the paper they were written on and the hardships families face without these protections.
And so I'm here today to introduce to you a great American, a young lady from our home state of North Carolina--her name is Libbie Hough--so that you can hear about how these reforms that I speak of are working and what these important protections mean for her family in North Carolina. Please receive Libbie Hough.
Libbie Hough. Good morning. My name is Libbie Hough. It is a very difficult name to pronounce correctly, but it is Hough, like 'tough.' It's okay. And I'm from Hillsborough, North Carolina. I'm honored to be here to share my family's story. I'm also proud to be here today as a wife, a mom of two children, the proprietor of my own small business, and an American Heart Association volunteer advocate.
Thank you, Congresswoman Pelosi and other Members of Congress, for your leadership in passing the Affordable Care Act so that families like mine can be assured access to health insurance coverage. Even as recently as 2 years ago, I would never have dreamed that my family would need the important protections provided by this new law.
And I'm going to hold up a picture now. These are my two girls. Approximately 18 months ago, my then 17 year old daughter Natalie suffered a cardiac arrest while alone in the bathroom at her high school. Fortunately she was discovered by another student, who got adult help, and school staff conducted CPR and administered and automatic external defibrillator, or an AED, until paramedics arrived.
According to the American Heart Association statistics, the average rate of survival for children who suffer cardiac arrest outside of a hospital is only 6 percent. We have no family history of sudden cardiac death, so almost losing Natalie this way was an enormous shock. After undergoing a battery of tests, it was discovered that Natalie has Long QT syndrome, a life threatening and usually genetic heart condition that unexpectedly claims thousands of lives every year, often with no warning signs. The way I like to explain it is Long QT is basically an electrical malfunction of the heart. So in other words, Natalie's circuits went into overdrive, and because they were not getting the proper signals, they shut down.
Two weeks after her cardiac arrest, Natalie had an internal cardiac defibrillator, or ICD, implanted in her chest. She will need to have her ICD replaced on average every 5 to 7 years, depending on battery usage. She must now also take beta blockers and other medications for her conditions.
Natalie continues to recover and is learning to manage her condition. She graduated from high school on time and is now a freshman at Appalachian State University. She is amazing, and she is my hero.
Our family is very appreciative of the peace of mind that the Affordable Care Act provides. Thanks to the law, Natalie can stay on our family's health insurance policy until she is 26. And knowing that Natalie won't be denied coverage because of her pre-existing condition when she turns 26 is even more comforting. She will now have the freedom and the liberty to make decisions about her career based on her own interests and dreams, rather than whether her employer offers group health insurance coverage.
Even prior to Natalie's cardiac arrest, my husband and I supported health care reform because we are both self employed. We have a family policy that costs us more than $1,100 a month, with a substantial deductible and high co-pays. We are looking forward to 2014 when we will have the option of purchasing more affordable coverage through the new state health insurance exchanges.
When I hear that people say reform should be repealed, I ask them to look into the face of my daughter and tell her why she needs to be penalized and why our family needs to be penalized for her having survived.
I urge all Members of Congress to stand up for young adults like Natalie by voting against efforts to repeal, defund, or otherwise undermine the Affordable Care Act.
In closing, Natalie's story also illustrates why it is so important that Congress continues to make lifesaving investments in medical research through the National Institutes of Health and in the purchase and placement of AEDs in all public places. Thank you.
Congressman Henry Cuellar. Thank you, and good morning.
You know, when we passed the health care bill, we applied a three part test: Does it create jobs? Does it reduce the deficit? And does it help the middle class?
When you look at it, does it create jobs? Yes, it does. As Speaker Pelosi mentioned a few minutes ago, a quarter of all the jobs were in the health care industry. Does it reduce the deficit? Yes, it does, by billions and billions and billions of dollars. And does it help the middle class? I think we just heard it, and we will continue hearing today, how it helps the middle class.
It is interesting, because the Republicans do want to repeal this. And when they asked for this break that we are going to have next week, we didn't want to go out there. We wanted to continue working on creating jobs. They wanted to repeal it. And when they are out there, I want you to do me a favor. Ask them--just the way they repealed--ask them if they would sign a pledge to repeal their own health care, and see how many of them would be willing to sign the pledge. Go out there and ask them if they would be willing to sign a pledge to repeal their health care the way they want to repeal the health care.
As a former small business owner, I want to talk about how the bill or how this legislation helps small business owners. It provides $40 billion in tax credits for small business owners so they can help offer their employees health insurance. The tax credits will cover up to 35 percent of the cost of coverage, going up to 50 percent in 2014. And you can ask any of the small business owners--as the small business owner we will hear from, Don--how that is so important. In fact, it took effect January 1st of 2010, of last year. So they can start taking the tax credits at this time.
In fact, when you look at the percentage of employers with 10 employees or less that offer health care, it rose from 46 percent in 2009, and it went up to 59 percent in 2010, at the end of last year, an incredible increase that we have. That shows that it is working.
In fact, more than 4 million small business owners are eligible for this tax credit. We know what it does. Exchange--the insurance exchanges are important. The best way to use this example: Imagine when you go buy milk. Imagine if you only had one choice of milk, and they said, you are going to drink this. No 2 percent, no 1 percent, no whole milk. That is what you are going to have. That is what the insurance companies were doing. Now under the exchange rates, just like when you go to the grocery store and you say, I want 2 percent, I want 1 percent, or I want whole milk, you have a choice. And this is what we are allowing the small business owners also.
Let me talk about also not only the small businesses, but let me talk about Hispanic owned small businesses, because there has been a tremendous growth in the Hispanic population. Hispanics have the highest uninsured rates of any ethnic group that we have in the United States. In 2009, 32.7 Hispanics were uninsured. And especially when you look at the age of the population, 18 to 64, it was 41.5. In my hometown of Laredo, 51 percent; 51 percent of the population 18 to 64 have no coverage at all. So therefore, Hispanics are less likely to be able to afford insurance. Twenty five percent live in the poverty level. My congressional district was the 10th most uninsured district in the whole country out of 435. And this is why it's so important.
Hispanic owned businesses are estimated about 2.3 million in 2007, which went up 44 percent. So when you are looking at the small business owners, Hispanics are growing at a very fast rate. In fact, the Hispanic owned businesses, the start up are three times the national average. Three times the national average. So therefore--and I think Angie Millan, who is here with the National Association of Hispanic Nurses, understands why--from L.A., California--she understands why it is so important to make sure that we provide this.
But at this time--I'm a former business owner, but I think you need to hear from somebody who is still a business owner at this time. Don Orange, the owner of Hoesly Eco Auto & Tire of Vancouver, Washington, will share his story how the health care law has helped him in his business. Don owns a tire and auto repair shop in Vancouver, Washington, with five full time employees and lives in the third Congressional District of Washington. The Hoesly Eco Auto & Tire has been a family owned and operated small business that is eco friendly and budget smart since 1946. So he has experience in what it takes to pay health care as a small business owner.
Don, come join us here.
By the way, Don and I are former Kiwanis owners. He said he had to miss his Kiwanis business meeting to be here today. Thank you, very much.
Don Orange. Thank you. Good morning. And I want to thank Nancy Pelosi and all the folks in Congress that got this going and are giving us a chance to talk about it.
And I'd also like to shout out to Congresswoman Giffords, the only tire store owner in Congress, and I'm hoping she gets back here and gets to work, and that the health care system takes good care of her.
I'm the State chair of the Main Street Alliance of Washington. The national group has 10,000 members around the country, which is small businesses like mine. Some of us are sole proprietors. Some of us have employees and so on. He did about half of my talk.
So my employees are like my family, and they're covering the business and running it for me today so I can be here, and I deeply appreciate it. And the least that I can do is try and cover them properly with health care.
This change in the law actually gives me a tax credit, which is the first tax credit I have had in years come back from Congress, for doing the right thing. It's doing the right thing. It isn't buying a new machine or something. It is taking care of the people. It is five families that are covered by this, and it is a good thing. Health care is still expensive, and health care for the last few years has been going up on us by about double digits. This makes it easier for us. It will save me about 14 percent on last year's and will save me a few thousand dollars on my taxes this year.
And a special thing for single self employed people is that they are going to be able to buy this stuff if they have got conditions. And people who want to go into business, and they've got a heart condition, or this condition or that condition--my wife has got preexisting conditions--and they can't get individual coverage, and it discourages entrepreneurship in this country.
My wife and I are living the American dream. It's a wonderful thing to have a small business. This makes it possible for our small business to compete with great big ones, and it makes it possible for us to do the right thing.
The idea of appealing this, I'm a fiscal conservative, and driving the deficit up by repealing this law, driving my taxes up by repealing this law, and when the man says this law has already increased coverage by percentage points that represent millions of families just in the last year, this is great stuff. Repeal is the worst kind of an idea. We need to make progress on this and move forward. I thank you.
Congressman John Sarbanes. Good morning. I'm Congressman John Sarbanes from Maryland. It is a pleasure, Leader Pelosi, to have you gather us together today to celebrate this 1 year anniversary of passage of the Affordable Care Act, which is doing amazing things for Americans across the country already, as you have heard testify.
One of the key things that we were trying to do with this legislation was change the orientation of our health care system. Up until now we sort of waited for the patient to come to the health care system when they're already sick. And what we are trying to do now is turn the health care system and take it to where the patients are, and that means emphasizing prevention and primary care, which not only is better for the patients, right, because they stay healthier, but it reduces costs for our health care system over the long run. So it makes perfect sense to do that. And that was a key element of the health care reform. And you are already seeing providers beginning to embrace that turn towards prevention and primary care.
But it did another thing. It said if somebody does get to that stage where they have an acute condition, where they desperately need the interventions that medicine can provide, that we are going to make sure that lack of coverage doesn't at that point stand in the way of their recovery. And nobody understands this better than the physicians and the nurses and the other caregivers that are out there providing care every day. They understand the benefits of the Affordable Care Act. The last thing you want to have happen is if a physician wants to reach out and help their patient, to be prevented from doing that because there's no coverage in place.
And it's my privilege really to introduce to you Dr. Zaneb Beams, who is a pediatrician from Maryland, from Howard County, which I represent, and she understands what this means. She understands that the Affordable Care Act is going to break down those barriers between physicians and other caregivers and their patients, and that's going to improve the health of everybody. So it is my pleasure to introduce Dr. Beams.
Dr. Zaneb Beams. Good morning. I'm Dr. Zaneb Beams, and I'm a board certified pediatrician and small business owner with a private practice in Columbia, Maryland.
First, before I get into the story I want to tell you, I want to thank Congress and our leadership for passing this law about a year ago. I remember this day very vividly because I was marching down the street in the pouring rain from Liberty Square to the House Visitors Center to thank our leaders for passing this historic law that is going to save millions and millions of lives and move us in the right direction of getting health care for all Americans.
For my patients moving forward, health care reform implementation must happen, and repeal is not an option. I'll tell you why. About 6 months ago a baby came into my office for a regular checkup. Her left eye didn't look right, and when we looked carefully, instead of a red spot at the back of her eye, we saw a white spot. It makes my stomach drop even just saying it right now. Any pediatrician will tell you that means retinoblastoma, or cancer of the eye.
This means the child will need multiple imaging studies; a tough, drawn out series of treatments in the hospital; eye, brain and cancer specialists, and likely infectious disease specialists; not to mention speech therapists, physical therapists, and developmentalists will care for this baby. One MRI will cost thousands, and each hospital admission and cancer treatment will cost tens of thousands of dollars. Without coverage and safeguards, this could bankrupt a family.
Before 2010, this baby's insurance company was able to get away with denying this kind of care. Before 2010, this baby's insurance company was able to ration care by delaying authorization of necessary treatments that were deemed to be a loss for the insurers. Before 2010, insurance company bureaucrats could take away care that this baby's parents had already paid for in a practice called rescission. They could decide this baby was getting too expensive and kick them off the plan or impose a lifetime limit.
As a children's doctor, my bottom line is my patients. For this baby's mother, the bottom line is her child's life. For the insurance company, the bottom line is just that, the bottom line.
The Affordable Care Act protects children and their families from rationing by insurance companies. It protects families from bankruptcy when they hit their lifetime limits. It ensures that when a child gets sick, insurance companies cannot take away the coverage their family pays for. This is not some abstract legal theory. The Affordable Care Act is a way for me to know that my patients will get the care that they need and deserve. Implementation is a must. Repeal is not an option.
And once again, thank you to the leadership for making this happen and getting us here today.
Leader Pelosi. President Obama has said that we will measure our success by the progress being made by America's working families. Our guests here today, Elizabeth Harper, Libbie Hough, Don Orange, and Dr. Beams, have told us about some of that progress being made, and we thank them for sharing their stories with us.
Our colleagues, Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, Congressman Butterfield, Congressman Cuellar, and Congressman Sarbanes, had the courage and the leadership to fight to pass this legislation, and we thank them for this success to make progress for America's working families. Thank you, my colleagues.
And thank all of you for being with us today as we make health care a right, not a privilege, more accessible, more affordable, better quality, as we reduce the deficit and create jobs to strengthen the middle class. Thank you all very much.