Fighting Cuts to the Affordable Care Act

October 4, 2017

Yesterday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee, of which I am a member, considered a series of Republican health care bills - all of which are intended to chip away at investments in health care and patient protections created by the Affordable Care Act. To fight back against these measures, I submitted three different amendments intended to assist women, children, and seniors, as well as to protect investments in primary care that benefit all Americans:

The first bill up for consideration, H.R. 1213, would repeal all federal funding to assist states with establishing health insurance exchanges. These exchanges will provide a fair marketplace for individuals and small businesses a place to buy affordable health insurance. My amendment would prohibit this bill from being enacted until all Americans have free preventive care, as will be the case beginning in 2014 when the health insurance exchanges are set up.
The Energy and Commerce Committee also considered H.R. 1217, a bill to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund. This fund provides critical funding to help bolster primary and preventive care; defunding it would be irresponsible. Because this legislation will negatively impact the preventive services that help with early detection and save countless lives, my amendment to H.R. 1217 would prohibit its enactment until the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) certifies that a number of women's cancer benchmarks are met.
My final amendment was to H.R. 1216, a bill that will cut funding for graduate medical education in qualified health teaching centers. By cutting programs that would train more primary care physicians, H.R. 1216 would have a detrimental effect on the health care of all Americans. I offered an amendment to the bill that would not allow for it to be enacted until HHS certified that 95 percent of Americans, and 100 percent of seniors have access to an ongoing source of care.
The series of amendments I submitted were intended to push back against these deep cuts to the Affordable Care Act and to ensure that our nation continues to move forward with providing affordable, accessible health care to all - not taking enormous steps backwards. A recent nonpartisan poll found that a majority of Californians support the Affordable Care Act or want it expanded to do more for consumers. I know that the health care law is helping to move our country in the right direction, and this became even more apparent recently when I sent you a survey asking you to tell me how the health care law has helped you. I received a number of responses, and I wanted to share one of these stories with you.

Theresa, a single mother from Sacramento, told me how the health care law saved her from a life of near poverty. Theresa's youngest child has a pre-existing condition, is over 19, and could not attend college full-time due to her health problems. Because of this, Theresa's daughter became ineligible to be on her health insurance plan, and Theresa saw her small savings dwindle as she had to pay out-of-pocket for all of her daughter's medical expenses. However, thanks to the new health care law, Theresa's daughter is back on her mother's health insurance plan and Theresa no longer has to live in fear of spending her life's savings on medical bills.

Theresa's story is proof that the health care law is working, and I will continue to defend it from attacks so that it can continue to benefit my constituents. If you would like more information about my work on health care, please visit matsui.house.gov/healthcare. As always, if I can be of any assistance, please call my office at (916) 498-5600.

1. The first bill up for consideration, H.R. 1213, would repeal all federal funding to assist states with establishing health insurance exchanges. These exchanges will provide a fair marketplace for individuals and small businesses a place to buy affordable health insurance. My amendment would prohibit this bill from being enacted until all Americans have free preventive care, as will be the case beginning in 2014 when the health insurance exchanges are set up.

2. The Energy and Commerce Committee also considered H.R. 1217, a bill to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund. This fund provides critical funding to help bolster primary and preventive care; defunding it would be irresponsible. Because this legislation will negatively impact the preventive services that help with early detection and save countless lives, my amendment to H.R. 1217 would prohibit its enactment until the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) certifies that a number of women's cancer benchmarks are met.

3. My final amendment was to H.R. 1216, a bill that will cut funding for graduate medical education in qualified health teaching centers. By cutting programs that would train more primary care physicians, H.R. 1216 would have a detrimental effect on the health care of all Americans. I offered an amendment to the bill that would not allow for it to be enacted until HHS certified that 95 percent of Americans, and 100 percent of seniors have access to an ongoing source of care.

The series of amendments I submitted were intended to push back against these deep cuts to the Affordable Care Act and to ensure that our nation continues to move forward with providing affordable, accessible health care to all - not taking enormous steps backwards. A recent nonpartisan poll found that a majority of Californians support the Affordable Care Act or want it expanded to do more for consumers. I know that the health care law is helping to move our country in the right direction, and this became even more apparent recently when I sent you a survey asking you to tell me how the health care law has helped you. I received a number of responses, and I wanted to share one of these stories with you.