Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman John D. Dingell (D-MI15) issued the following statement for the record at the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health hearing on “Expanding Health Care Options: Allowing Americans to Purchase Affordable Coverage Across State Lines” to reproach another House GOP effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act and cut health coverage for Americans:
“Thank you Mr. Chairman.
“Today’s hearing focuses on a topic that should be familiar to some Members of this Committee. H.R. 371, the Health Care Choices Act of 2011, is strikingly similar to H.R. 2355, the Health Care Choices Act of 2005. Although as we have seen in the 112th Congress, my colleagues would not dare miss an opportunity to strike away at the heart of the Affordable Care Act, and have included in H.R. 371 language to repeal the consumer protections that make up the Patients’ Bill of Rights.
“Now I know that good legislating is a difficult process, but continually reaching back to the arsenal of old legislation does nothing to help move our debate and discussion around improving our health care system forward.
“Quite frankly Mr. Chairman, this is legislation that is not needed. States can already pass laws to allow for the sale of health insurance across state lines. Further, the Affordable Care Act, which my colleagues on the other side profess to hate so much, would allow for states to band together to enter into a health care choice compact that would allow for the sale of insurance across state lines while also maintaining the critical consumer protections.
“Allowing such a reckless piece of legislation to move forward would be a race to the bottom – for our health care system and for our nation’s health. We will see insurance companies fleeing for whatever state will either let the industry write the regulations or ensure the least amount of oversight and restrictions on their practices, guaranteeing overwhelming profits for their coffers, and drastic cuts in the coverage available to those most in need of health insurance. This will harm the sick, the elderly, and the disabled – all of whom already pay high costs for their medical care. This should not be a surprise to my colleagues as we have seen this exact situation play out in the credit card industry.
“My colleagues point out that this legislation will help to lower premiums, and highlight the differences in premiums between New York and Iowa. If a New York family is able purchase their insurance in Iowa they may see lower premiums, but this will not the lower the cost of a medical service in New York. If I was a smart businessman in Iowa, why would I choose to cover a New York family knowing the high cost of medical services there?
“Reduced insurance premiums for some people are little consolation for the consumers who, under H.R. 371, would be left without coverage or would no longer have coverage for critically needed benefit such as diabetes care or maternity care or cancer treatment. Insurance companies would be empowered to avoid caring for the sick people who cut into their profit margin and would instead look for the young and healthy who afford them the greatest opportunity for profit and the least opportunity for payoff and payout.
“I hope that today’s hearing will be a useful one for my colleagues, and I hope that this hearing will help to show that the solution proposed in the Health Care Choice Act will not help to protect our people from serious wrongdoing and will instead allow the rascals who have been able to exploit the weakness of the current system to achieve great economic success.”
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