Washington, D.C. – On Tuesday, U.S. Representative John D. Dingell (D-MI15) issued the following statement opposing H.R. 1213, legislation that repeals funding for States to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges:

“Mister Speaker, I rise in opposition today to H.R. 1213, which would repeal funding available to States to establish health insurance Exchanges.  Repealing this funding will dramatically hamper States efforts to provide critical access to affordable and high quality insurance for the uninsured or underinsured. 

“The Exchanges are a vital component to the Affordable Care access in that they will help simplify the process of purchasing insurance for American families and small businesses.  For the first time, individuals, families and small business alike will be able to shop for their coverage like they would for any other product – comparing the benefits, the services and prices side-by-side so that they can make a decision about what coverage will best fit their needs and their budget.  These marketplaces will be transparent and competitive.

“It is ironic that my colleagues across the aisle continually claim that the States best know the needs and challenges facing their population, yet today’s legislation would hamstring the ability of States to plan and prepare their own exchanges.  HHS has already made available more than $296 million to 48 States, the District of Columbia and four territories to begin this work, and my home state of Michigan received more than $999,000 to begin their planning.

“This funding will help Michigan determine who will be eligible for the Exchange, review the technical components needed to run the Exchange, develop a model and structure, as well as begin stakeholder discussions on implementation.  Repealing this funding will not only hurt Michigan’s efforts, but also the efforts of the other States and territories that have already begun planning and building their own marketplace and delaying implementation.

“According to CBO, such a delay would prevent almost two million people from enrolling in state exchanges, and increase the number of uninsured by 500,000 in 2015.  Further, CBO found that 85 percent of the cuts in H.R. 1213 will come on the backs of low and moderate income families through subsidy reductions for the purchase of health coverage.  More importantly, the successes of critical consumer protections that make up the Patient’s Bill of Rights in the Affordable Care Act depend on working Exchanges by 2014.

“These reforms will end the worst abuses in the insurance industry:

•  Ending discrimination for pre-existing conditions, gender, health status or family history;

•  Requiring coverage of preventative care services;

•  Protecting the patients’ choice of doctors;

•  Preventing rescissions of coverage as a patient is being wheeled into the operating room; and

•  Prohibiting arbitrary limits on coverage, among other things.

“If we want the States to be able to pave their own path forward in creating a robust and successful exchange designed to help employers and consumers to navigate the purchase of health coverage, than we cannot vote in favor of defunding these critical grants.  I urge my colleagues to vote against this attempt to defund the Affordable Care Act.”

The House of Representatives voted to pass this bill by a vote of 238 to 183.

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