Congressmember Carolyn Maloney
This is an historic vote.
With passage of these health care reforms, 32 million people without insurance will get it – including almost 2.5 million uninsured in New York State.
It will end discrimination for pre-existing conditions, make progress on cutting high medical costs, and reduce the deficit by over $1 Trillion over the next two decades.
This package of reforms that will make a real difference in the lives of Americans, over their entire lives:
• If you’re 21 and just graduating college, you’ll now be included on your parents’ coverage until your 26th birthday.
• If you’re self-employed in your thirties or forties, you’ll be able to shop for more affordable coverage on exchanges set up by states or the federal government.
• If you’re 56 and have taken early retirement, you can continue to be covered under your employer’s plan until you sign up for Medicare.
• And if you’re a senior with Medicare Part D drug coverage, the so-called “donut hole” has been closed.
The Senate version penalized states like New York, which were already doing more than most to provide care to the needy. And that’s one of the things this House is fixing.
The impact on the New York State Medicaid budget went from a projected increased cost of more than $700 million to increased aid of $1.3 billion in just the first year. That’s a “swing” of more than $2 billion!
Finally, these reforms will do more for women’s health – despite the restrictive language on reproductive health services contained within the Senate bill – than any other legislation in my career.
I am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this momentous reform and urge my colleagues to remember that today we will make a lasting difference in people’s lives.
Today we change the overall health of our nation.
Congressmember Gregory Meeks
By passing this bill, we have taken the essential steps in providing all Americans the access they need and deserve to proper health care. I am extremely pleased to have voted in favor of this bill that will improve coverage for 377,000 constituents in the Sixth Congressional District and provide coverage to 54,000 of my constituents who aren’t insured.
This bill will also guarantee that 12,300 residents in my district with pre-existing conditions can obtain the necessary health coverage and protect 600 families in my district from bankruptcy due to unaffordable health care costs.
This historical legislation that was passed today will lower healthcare costs for low and middle income Americans, prevent insurance companies from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions, health status and gender and provide Americans with the necessary tools and resources to make better informed decisions about their health care choices.
I look forward to working with President Obama and my colleagues in Congress to providing affordable and quality health care for all Americans in this country.
Congressmember Nydia M. Velázquez
For too long, working families have lived in fear that they are just one illness away from financial ruin. For too long, the men and women in my home state of New York have watched their premiums skyrocket, with family rates up 97 percent in the last decade. For too long, Latinos have been left behind, suffering the highest uninsured rate of any other community. Tonight, it is time to say enough.
It is time to say enough to the discriminatory policies that charge women and minorities more money for the same services. It is time to say enough to a system that has pushed more than 2.5 million New Yorkers over the brink and into the ranks of the uninsured. And it is time to say enough to a status quo that robs Americans of the peace of mind that can only come from knowing this – they, and they alone, are in charge of their own well being.
This bill gives every American that autonomy. For the Latino community, it delivers coverage to 8.8 million people. In my home district, it improves options for 324,000 residents, and expands care to 86,000 more. For 16,000 people with preexisting conditions, it allows them to buy affordable health plans right away, promising them: Never again. Never again can you be denied coverage. And for 4,300 of my district’s seniors paying full price for prescription drugs, it closes the Medicare donut hole.
Meanwhile, this bill invests in New York’s network of community health centers. In my district alone, 33 clinics will see critical improvements, meaning more options for the men and women of Brooklyn, Queens and the Lower East Side. And, at the end of the day, isn’t that what this legislation is all about – options?
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will deliver better choices – not just for New Yorkers, but for all Americans. With the passage of health care reform, we are finally answering a decades-long cry for help. We are finally empowering the American people with quality, affordable options that put them in the driver’s seat, and I urge support of this landmark legislation.
