Pallone Floor Remarks on Extending the ACA Enhanced Tax Credits

Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) delivered the following remarks on the House floor in support of legislation to extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced tax credits for three years:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. 

There is no more important bill than Leader Jeffries’s bill to make health care more affordable for more than 20 million Americans whose monthly health premiums have skyrocketed because of Republican inaction and indifference.

When I was home during the holidays, all I heard from my constituents was that their health care premiums were doubling and tripling in the state of New Jersey.

This bill is a godsend—I am not exaggerating—this bill is a godsend for people who are concerned that they're not going to have health insurance, already don't have health insurance, because on January 1st they weren't able to buy it.

And what happens when they don't get health insurance? Well, the effects of this don't just affect the people, the 20 million people, who don't get it because of the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare. The effects are on everyone who has health insurance, because emergency rooms will once again be overflowing with people who are forced to wait until they are so sick that they have no choice but to go to the E.R. because they don't have a doctor. Patients will be sicker. Doctors and nurses will be stretched thin, and hospitals will be left with large sums of uncompensated care, which will be passed on to everyone with insurance in the form of higher monthly premiums. This isn't just about the ACA, but it is most important for those people who had the ACA and perhaps don't have it anymore.

Unfortunately, the Republican majority has known these price hikes were coming all along, but they didn't do a single thing to help us stop this from happening. Last year, Republicans instead spent their time giving permanent tax breaks to billionaires and large companies, but refused to extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits to help lower health care costs for everyday people.

Today, we have a chance to right that wrong and help our hardworking Americans. So, Mr. Speaker, Republicans may not want to admit it publicly, but they know the ACA has resulted in historically low uninsured rates, helped millions of families stay covered, and saved lives. And I stress save lives.

If we don't take action, all this progress could be reversed as the American people are priced out of the ability to see their doctors. Vote for this bill.

I yield back.

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