E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 115 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 163 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, MARCH 7, 2017 No. 39 House of Representatives The House met at noon and was jority when that law went into effect, What this bill does is, again, it just called to order by the Speaker pro tem- there have been 60 votes to repeal the basically decapitates the Medicaid ex- pore (Mr. SIMPSON). Affordable Care Act; and up until this pansion. So about 11 million Americans f morning, the majority has always are going to have their healthcare cov- begged the question about: What is erage threatened. And those are not DESIGNATION OF SPEAKER PRO your replacement? Again, just last just, you know, people on entitlement TEMPORE week, we heard rumors that there was programs. We are talking about work- The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be- a replacement, that the Speaker actu- ing Americans. fore the House the following commu- ally had drafted a bill. I know a farmer in my district who nication from the Speaker: Well, with scenes that looked like it almost lost his foot from a chain saw WASHINGTON, DC, was out of ‘‘The Blair Witch Project,’’ accident, who thanked me the other March 7, 2017. we had Members of Congress going day that he had Medicaid to cover the I hereby appoint the Honorable MICHAEL K. around the Capitol opening doors with costs of his hospital coverage. SIMPSON to act as Speaker pro tempore on cameras doing live streams and live Again, the subsidies which allowed this day. coverage, again, to empty rooms and people to buy plans on the insurance PAUL D. RYAN, Speaker of the House of Representatives. denials that there actually was a bill marketplace, well, they basically, as I that anyone could actually take a look said, decapitate Medicaid. And they f at. also convert the subsidies from an in- MORNING-HOUR DEBATE Well, as I said, this morning, we now come-based system to an age-rated one, The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- have been told that there actually is a which means that, basically, a well-to- ant to the order of the House of Janu- bill that has been filed, which tomor- do person gets the same tax credit that ary 3, 2017, the Chair will now recog- row will be marked up and voted out of a poor person or a single parent has. nize Members from lists submitted by committee with not one single public A conservative economist, Avik Roy, the majority and minority leaders for hearing and, incredibly, with no anal- just a few minutes ago, issued a state- morning-hour debate. ysis by the Congressional Budget Of- ment, saying: The Chair will alternate recognition fice, which any bill that has any im- Expanding subsidies for high earners while between the parties, with each party pact on budget, whether it is a tax bill cutting health coverage for the working poor limited to 1 hour and each Member or a spending bill, has, as a matter of sounds like a caricature of mustache-twirl- other than the majority and minority course, for decades, always been the ing, top-hatted Republican fat cats. leaders and the minority whip limited case. There is no measure which con- Again, you cannot imagine a more to 5 minutes, but in no event shall de- tains more significance in terms of a Robin Hood in reverse than a plan that bate continue beyond 1:50 p.m. Congressional Budget analysis than re- does what this tax credit change en- f forming the healthcare system of compasses. America, which constitutes about 15 to And, again, the list goes on and on in THE AMERICAN HEALTH CARE 20 percent of the American economy terms of some of the really just out- ACT and affects the lives of tens of millions rageous proposals that this new meas- The SPEAKER pro tempore. The of Americans. ure contains. Chair recognizes the gentleman from Well, from what we have seen so far, For seniors, again, the Affordable Connecticut (Mr. COURTNEY) for 5 min- it appears there is a good reason that Care Act contracted the age rating utes. the folks wanted to keep the bill a se- from 3 to 1 from what existed before; it Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, 7 cret. Again, the basic fundamentals of was about 6 to 7 to 1. In other words, a years ago, in March of 2010, the Afford- the Affordable Care Act is built on two senior, an older person, could be able Care Act was signed into law after pillars. There was an expansion of Med- charged seven times the same rate as a a 2-year process of hundreds of com- icaid, and there were subsidies based on 20-year-old. Again, the Affordable Care mittee meetings, exhaustive markups— income for Americans to be able to buy Act reduced that span to 3 to 1. which I personally participated in— insurance through the marketplace. This bill expands the span again to 5 floor debate that went on for days, and, In the State of Connecticut, where I to 1, which the American ARP has al- again, back-and-forth between the come from, we have cut the uninsured ready issued a statement, saying: House and the Senate. rate down to 3.6 percent from approxi- It is nothing more than an age tax. It is Since that date, despite the, again, mately 9 percent when the bill was charging people based on their age, which is bitter criticism by the Republican ma- signed into law 7 years ago. nothing that any human being can control. b This symbol represents the time of day during the House proceedings, e.g., b 1407 is 2:07 p.m. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. H1539 . VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:38 Mar 08, 2017 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 7634 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A07MR7.000 H07MRPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with HOUSE H1540 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE March 7, 2017 It also, again, rolls back tax in- mandate penalties and taxes on pre- ter and improved markets. The basic creases, slight tax increases, for high scription drugs, over-the-counter medi- problem the Republicans have—and income earners, as Mr. Roy’s comment cations, health insurance premiums, they know this very well—is that the indicates, and worsens the fiscal sol- and medical devices. It will expand health insurance industry is exempt vency of the Medicare trust fund, re- health savings accounts to empower in- from the antitrust laws of the United duces its solvency by 4 years. dividuals and families to spend their States of America, so they can, and Again, the Catholic Health Associa- healthcare dollars the way they want they do, get together and collude. They tion has come out today criticizing and need. It will provide tax credits to collude to drive up prices. They collude this proposal. Again, just an incredible those who don’t receive insurance to share markets: hey, if you are pull- array of stakeholder groups all across through work or a government pro- ing out of that State, I will pull out of the country are already speaking out. gram, helping all Americans access this State and cut those kind of deals. The fact that this measure is going high quality, affordable health care. They can’t be prosecuted. forward in committee tomorrow morn- At the same time, we on the Edu- We had a bipartisan vote on the floor ing, less than, really, 24 hours for the cation and the Workforce Committee of this House when we were originally American people to have even a are working to advance additional re- considering the House version of the glimpse in terms of what is being pro- forms that will help expand coverage, Affordable Care Act—infinitely supe- posed without an analysis in terms of a make health care more affordable, and rior to the thing passed by the Senate budget score, again, is just an abuse of promote a healthy workforce. which we got stuck with—and it was the legislative and democratic process. One legislative proposal will em- over 400 votes to take away their anti- Mr. Speaker, again, we have seen an power small businesses to band to- trust immunity. Is that in this bill? outpouring of Americans over the last gether to negotiate lower healthcare Heck, no. They are the second largest 2 months at townhall meetings—I have costs on behalf of their employees. An- PAC contributor to the Republican had four of them—people telling heart- other will protect the ability of em- Party, so I am afraid we are not going felt stories about how the ACA helped ployers to self-insure, providing great- to take away their antitrust immu- them. Yes, we can improve the law. er access to affordable, flexible nity—but we are going to have a really There are many ideas that we can work healthcare plans for their workers. The free, competitive, and transparent mar- together on. That is what we should be third will give employers the legal cer- ket. You will be able to go out and get focused on, not butchering the law, tainty they need to offer employee your policies, whatever the insurance which this proposal seeks to do. wellness plans, helping to promote a companies have decided as they f healthy workforce and, again, lower colluded behind closed doors.