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Mr. COURTNEY. Madam Speaker, 45 percent of Americans suffer from some form of chronic disease, leaving them exposed to preexisting condition discrimination. The Commonwealth Fund found that 12.6 million non-elderly adults were, in fact, discriminated against by insurance companies because of preexisting conditions in the last 3 years.
This health care reform bill will abolish the barbaric discriminatory practice of denying insurance and charging more for insurance to Americans based on medical underwriting. Like Jim Crow laws, like separate but equal laws, like laws denying women the right to vote or own property, the practice of denying coverage because of a person's internal biology, high blood pressure, diabetes or cancer will be forever abolished.
Section 211 of this bill ends this practice permanently in 2013; and section 106, which I wrote with Mr. Andrews' help, immediately provides relief by amending existing law to shorten the look-back period for group health plans from 6 months to 30 days and reduces the exclusion of coverage for preexisting conditions from 18 months to 90 days.
This balanced, well-thought-out reform of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 will provide tangible, real change for Americans terrified of losing their coverage because of a layoff or a job change.
What does the Republican plan do? Does it adopt section 106 or 211? No. On page 145 of the Republican bill, they call for--are you ready--a GAO study of the issue of preexisting conditions. The time for delay and dilatory studies is over. It is time to act.
As U.S. President Abraham Lincoln once said, it is time to make a more perfect union, and pass the Affordable Health Care for America Act.
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