OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

State Health Care Premium Reduction Act

Floor Speech

Date: June 29, 2020
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Health and Health Care

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Mr. GOMEZ. Madam Speaker, first, I want to remind my colleagues from the other side of the aisle that this President has attempted to get rid of, to eliminate, the Affordable Care Act, ObamaCare, over and over and over again. So when you pretend to care about expanding healthcare or taking care of people who don't have healthcare, it seems a little hollow to me.

That is why I am proud to stand up here to support the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act because it would invest in working families by expanding affordability, strengthening consumer protections, and increasing coverage. And there is a lot to like in this bill.

For the first time ever, under this legislation, doctor recipients would be eligible for help with their premiums for plans they purchased under Covered California or HealthCare.gov.

For DACA recipients, home is here. Many of them have been working as first responders and frontline health providers during the pandemic, and they should have affordable healthcare like any other American.

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank Chairman Neal for working with me on this important provision.

Second, this bill makes changes so that Medicaid more effectively serves its patients.

For instance, under the legislation, Medicaid enrollees would have better access to primary care physicians, and they won't lose their healthcare coverage just because of small fluctuations in their income over the course of a year.

Forty-seven percent of my congressional district is enrolled in Medicaid or Medi-Cal, so these provisions are crucial.

Last, this bill makes healthcare more affordable by increasing subsidies for working families on the marketplace. This provision is similar to the Healthcare Affordability Act of 2019 that I introduced with Congresswoman Lauren Underwood. This is a historic step.

The Affordable Care Act was a big step, but it is not done. We are going to keep pushing, and we are not going to negotiate with the other side of the aisle that keeps trying to eliminate and roll back protections and affordable healthcare for millions of Americans.

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