State Health Care Premium Reduction Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1425, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act.

Madam Speaker, the Democrats have been debating internally over the past couple of years: What is the best way to reduce healthcare costs? What is the best way to provide more access to people? What should we be doing?

Some people push for Medicare for All. People like myself say: Let's build upon the Affordable Care Act. Let's try and figure out how we can provide more access and reduce drug costs. That is what we are doing here today.

Meanwhile, our Republican colleagues are continuing to hurtle down a dark and misguided path to take away coverage from almost 20 million Americans in the middle of the worst economic and health crisis we have had in almost a century.

I am mystified by the strategy of my colleagues on the other side. What are they thinking?

Now, they say that they want to protect people with preexisting conditions. In fact, the President tweeted over the weekend, saying he will always protect people with preexisting conditions. And I have heard colleagues of mine in the Ways and Means Committee say: We are convinced. We know now that we have to protect people with preexisting conditions.

Yet, what do they do? Not what they say, what do they do? Their policies don't match their rhetoric.

In 2017, they tried to repeal the ACA altogether, which would take away people's preexisting conditions protections. Now, in the midst of a pandemic that has already killed 130,000 Americans, this administration and the Republicans are pursuing a lawsuit to actually undo the Affordable Care Act. That will get rid of preexisting conditions protections. It doesn't make any sense.

Prescription drugs, the President said during his campaign and thereafter, when talking about Big Pharma, he said that these guys are getting away with murder. We should be negotiating prescription drug prices. Yet, we have passed the bill before. We are doing it again today, to actually negotiate prescription drug prices, and they are opposing it once again, and they are not doing anything to try to negotiate prescription drug prices.

Today, Democrats are, once again, taking steps to reduce premiums, lower drug prices, and expand coverage.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this bill.

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