Affordable Care Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. HASSAN. Well, Mr. President, thank you to my colleague Senator Booker for that kind introduction and as important, if not more, for his great comments about the importance of the Affordable Care Act to our constituents, to our communities, to our State, to our country, to the cause of human dignity.

I rise today to join my colleagues in commemorating the passage of the Affordable Care Act 13 years ago. I am so grateful to be here not only with Senator Booker but Senator Wyden and Senator Casey and grateful for their advocacy and their efforts to really help people understand the difference that this law has made for the people of our country.

I want to take a moment to discuss the difference that this law has made for the people in New Hampshire. I also want to build on what Senator Booker just talked about by talking about the growing bipartisan support for Medicaid expansion and how that shows just how much we can accomplish when we put politics aside and we work together. It also shows the urgent need that we have for remaining States to follow New Hampshire's bipartisan example and adopt Medicaid expansion.

The Affordable Care Act, and Medicaid expansion in particular, has done more to improve the health of the people of our country than any law passed in the last 50 years. This law was based on a simple proposition that when everyone has access to quality, affordable care, our country is stronger and our people are more free.

Our people are more free because, as the adage goes, when you have your health, you have everything.

We do not fully appreciate these words until we or someone we love falls ill. Facing health challenges is never easy, but it is easy to forget how much more daunting they used to be before the Affordable Care Act.

Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, millions of Americans now have the freedom and peace of mind of knowing that they will not be denied access to affordable healthcare, even if they lose their job or have a preexisting condition. For too long, many Americans had to pay painfully high premiums or were even denied coverage altogether just because they had a preexisting condition. These conditions range from diseases like cancer and diabetes to pregnancy or asthma. Often, people with these conditions are the very people who need care the most.

No matter your political party, all of us should be united in celebrating that the days of denying someone coverage on account of a preexisting condition have ended.

Granite Staters know the difference that the Affordable Care Act has made. As Governor, I led the effort to get Medicaid expansion done, signing it into law in March of 2014. Only a handful of months later, the plan was implemented, thanks to extraordinary work by the employees of our State's Department of Health and Human Services.

Medicaid expansion has made an incredible difference for tens of thousands of Granite Staters. Medicaid expansion has made our people healthier and our workforce stronger. Since 2014, the uninsured rate in New Hampshire fell by over 40 percent. More than 200,000 Granite Staters have participated in expanded Medicaid.

All of us in this Chamber have entered public service with the hope that we will help our communities and our country. Make no mistake, behind these statistics, and similar statistics for other States, are countless stories of people whose lives were transformed or even saved by the law.

For many, it made their families more financially secure. For others, it allowed them to address longstanding health challenges that prevented them from participating in the workforce.

I want to share one of these stories. The Affordable Care Act has made a great difference for people struggling with addiction and substance misuse. Some may not know this, but in many States, Medicaid expansion marked the first time that substance misuse treatment was covered by Medicaid. This is particularly important for a State like New Hampshire, which has been hit hard by the substance misuse crisis.

Whenever I talk about expanding Medicaid, one of the first people I think of is a woman I met in Manchester named Ashley. For nearly a decade, Ashley struggled with heroin addiction. At one point, she was arrested, and eventually her then-husband overdosed, but that was not the end of Ashley's story.

In 2016, she became one of the tens of thousands of Granite Staters who have received substance misuse or mental health treatment covered by New Hampshire's Medicaid expansion. She went into recovery, found work, and has rebuilt her life. Ashley now works for a recovery community organization, helping others get the help and support that they need. None of this would have been possible without Ashley's strength and perseverance or if we failed to expand Medicaid.

Ashley's story is a reminder of why Medicaid expansion matters for so many Americans. It has helped countless people get the care that they need to be healthy, have a job, and participate in their communities.

The benefits of expanded Medicaid for people like Ashley is, in part, why Medicaid expansion has gained bipartisan support over the last decade. Even when partisan politicians have been slow to act, voters from both parties have come together and pushed Medicaid expansion forward.

Just last November, voters in South Dakota voted to expand Medicaid. They were the latest in a long line of Republican-led States whose voters went to the polls and passed Medicaid expansion, including Nebraska, Oklahoma, Idaho, and Utah. These ballot initiatives only passed because voters from both parties stood together, and we can learn from their example.

This growing bipartisan consensus is an example of our capacity to solve problems when we work together. This has certainly been true in my own State.

It was not that long ago that Medicaid expansion was at the center of our most polarizing, partisan debates. I know because I was in the middle of them as Governor. The debates were long, and the negotiations tough, with a divided State legislature. But, ultimately, we adopted bipartisan Medicaid expansion in New Hampshire. By listening to each other and finding ways to work together, we were able to put people's health ahead of politics and get it done.

Just recently, the New Hampshire Republican-controlled State Senate voted unanimously to support reauthorizing the expanded Medicaid Program. What was once a political lightning rod is now an essential part of our public healthcare system.

It has also strengthened both our economy and our workforce. Workers are more secure in seeking new and better jobs, knowing that if they have to switch insurance plans, they will not be denied coverage on account of a preexisting condition.

And people who couldn't get healthcare for a medical condition and, in turn, couldn't work because of their condition, can now get health insurance, get the treatment that they need, and join the workforce.

In short, this law has become a fundamental part of our State's promise to do right by Granite Staters.

New Hampshire's bipartisan Medicaid expansion as well as the bipartisan efforts in other States are an important reminder of what we can accomplish when we work together. When we take the politics out of an issue, when we care more about whether an idea is good rather than whether it is red or blue, we can accomplish tremendous things. We can make our country a better place because, ultimately, the Affordable Care Act was nothing less than a step forward for the cause of human dignity and freedom.

To be sure, there is much more work we need to do to improve the quality and affordability of healthcare, and I welcome my colleagues to join me in bipartisan efforts to do just that.

Having listened to my colleague Senator Casey just a few minutes ago, I want to note my agreement with him that cutting Medicaid or repealing the Affordable Care Act are not measures that will meet that goal.

I also urge Governors and legislators in the remaining States that have not expanded Medicaid to follow the bipartisan example that New Hampshire and other States have set. Look at the difference it has made in my State and in States across the country. This is an effort that has the support of majorities in both parties and should unite all Americans.

Thank you to everyone in this body and in legislatures across the country who made the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid expansion a reality. I sincerely hope that we bring the same bipartisan commitment that Medicaid expansion enjoys now to tackle future challenges, because today is a reminder that, when we leave partisan debates in the past and find ways to work together, we can build a country that is stronger and more free.

With that, Mr. President, I am very proud and grateful to yield the floor to my colleague Senator Wyden, who has been such an extraordinary leader in improving and expanding access to healthcare and dignity for all Americans. Thank you.

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