FLOOR STATEMENT

H.R. 2, the Patients Rights Repeal Act of 2011

U.S. Congressman Jerry Costello

January 19, 2011

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 2, the Patients Rights Repeal Act of 2011.

Less than one year ago, the 111th Congress achieved a major milestone in the decades-long effort to ensure access to quality health care for all Americans by passing the Affordable Care Act and reforming our broken health care system. Since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, I have seen its benefits first hand in the district I am privileged to represent. Over 9,800 seniors in Southwestern and Southern Illinois will see a 50% discount on their medications when they enter the Medicare Part D coverage gap, saving them $5.1 million. An additional 112,000 seniors will receive free preventive care, including cancer and diabetes screenings. As of September 2010, up to 37,000 children in my district with pre-existing conditions are no longer denied coverage by insurance companies and in 2014 up to 238,000 adults will have the same protection. In the St. Louis Metro area, 13,600 young adults will remain on their parents’ health insurance plans up to age 26 and maintain their access to affordable care, and the 2.4 million individuals with private health insurance are protected from predatory practices of insurance companies and arbitrary premium rate increases.

Despite this significant progress, today we are considering the Patients’ Rights Repeal Act, which will strip my constituents of these new benefits and return us to the broken, expensive health care system that left 47 million Americans uninsured.

Just as our constituents cannot afford to lose these benefits, we cannot afford the Patients’ Rights Repeal Act. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), passing this legislation will increase the deficit by $230 billion over 10 years and by more than $1.2 trillion over 20 years. The CBO also estimates that this bill will increase premiums and out-of-pocket expenses for everyone enrolled in private insurance plans.

Further, despite the claims of my Republican colleagues, there is no evidence that repealing health care reform will create new jobs or spur economic growth. Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, we have added 1.1 million new private sector jobs to the economy. Further, a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation indicates the Affordable Care Act will create 4 million additional new jobs in the next 10 years by lowering costs and investing in the health care workforce. These new, good-paying jobs will disappear with the passage of repeal.

The Affordable Care Act is not a perfect bill. Provisions, including the unworkable 1099 reporting requirements for small businesses, will be adjusted or replaced as we move forward to implement the bill. Just as we have changed Medicare and Social Security over the last several decades to ensure those programs achieve their goals, we will work together to adapt the Affordable Care Act and keep health care affordable and accessible for millions of Americans. I will work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisles to adopt strong alternatives.

However, just as we have never repealed Medicare or Social Security, I will not vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act and return to a health care system that is unsustainable, inefficient, and massively expensive. We must continue to move forward and ensure that our health care system works for all Americans.

Mr. Speaker, passing the Patients’ Rights Repeal Act will dramatically expand the deficit, slow job creation, increase the cost of health care, and deny millions of Americans access to health coverage. I urge my colleagues to oppose the Patients’ Rights Repeal Act.