republican affordable care act

mr. president, for eight years, republicanshave complained about health care in america. they have blamed everything in the world onpresident obama. they’ve hung out on the sidelines, name-calling,making doomsday predictions, and cheering every stumble that they could blame on someoneelse. they spent a lot of energy rooting againstfamilies who needed help paying for health insurance or who wanted coverage but who werefrozen out because of a pre-existing condition. they jeered and carried on, but what theydidn’t do – ever – was lift a finger to try to improve health care in america. but they’re in charge now.

they get to call the shots. so what’s the first thing on the republicanagenda now that they are in control? is it working to improve health care in america? working to bring down premiums and deductibles? making fixes to expand the network of doctorsand the number of plans that people can choose from? any of those? nope. the very first thing on the republican agendain the 115th congress is to shatter

health care in america. the first thing: rip health insurance out of the hands of millions of americans who need it. the first thing: massively raise the costs of health insurance for everyone who has it. the first thing: create chaos for hospitals, clinics, and insurance companies and send their costs spiraling outof control. the first thing: abandon the people they were elected to represent. the first thing: repeal and run away.

republicans have been rushing around capitolhill for the past couple of weeks, huddling in meetings and trying to come up with a planto replace the affordable care act. and they are shocked — shocked — to discoverthat guaranteeing americans access to health care is a complex business and they don’thave any good ideas. now, after eight years of complaining, theyare trying to convince each other that it will all be okay if they just repeal healthcare access – with nothing to replace it. they’re trying to reassure each other thatthey know what they’re doing. get real. they don’t have a clue what to do next.

for eight years, they’ve had no plan. and they don’t have a plan now. let’s be very clear about what’s goingon here: republicans want to tear apart our nation’s health care system – a health care system that protects kids withcancer, protects women getting mammograms, protects independent contractors, protects new moms, protects college kids,

protects grandparents, protects disease survivors, and protects so many of america’s families. they want to tear it apart and they don’thave the first clue what to do with it afterwards. repeal and run, that’s the republican plan. in massachusetts, we know how important healthreform is because we’ve been working on it now for years – long before the affordablecare act was even a spark on the horizon in washington. my republican colleagues could learn a lotfrom our work in massachusetts. in massachusetts, the belief that everyoneshould have access to affordable health insurance

coverage is a shared value that democrats,republicans, business leaders, hospitals, insurers, doctors, consumers, and advocateshave all worked to implement over the past decade. it’s not just the lip-service we’re hearingright now here in washington; it is a real commitment. and because of it, in massachusetts we got real results. just because we’re all behind this efforttogether in massachusetts doesn’t mean that health reform has been a cake walk. finding ways to cover more people and bringdown costs, all while improving the quality of care, is a tough job.

you have to be in it for the long haul. and that’s why, in massachusetts, we didn’tjust pass one health care law in 2006 and then just run away. we came back a couple of years later withadditional legislation to make fixes and adjustments. we formed commissions to study how thingswere working, to make recommendations for more changes. we passed amendments. we revised our regulations where they neededto be changed to support implementation. we worked to make coverage more affordable.

we set standards to make sure that insurance isa good value, and we invested in prevention programs to keep people healthy in the firstplace. we got more coverage for more people and welowered health care costs. we kept working – month after month,year after year – because we know what it means for a family to have the peace of mindthat comes with affordable, high-quality health insurance coverage. we kept working because we knew it was theright thing to do. and we kept working because we knew that’swhat massachusetts residents expected us to do.

once we started something, we had to see itthrough. and when it got tough, we worked harder — we didn’trepeal and run. when the affordable care act was signed intolaw in 2010, massachusetts went all in. we expanded our medicaid program, using federalfunds to cover people who still lacked insurance even after our state reforms. we set up a state health insurance exchange,the health connector, and we combined federal and state dollars to make sure that insurancewas truly affordable. and just two months ago, we signed an ambitiousnew medicaid agreement with the federal government that will allow us to set up innovative partnershipsamong health providers, insurers, and community

organizations so that we can better serve medicaidpatients in our state. we have a great deal to be proud of in massachusetts. more than 97% of our citizens are insured. people have coverage. they have good coverage. coverage that they can afford. and this wasn’t something we got done overnight,but it’s something we worked at. and it’s something we can achieve in everystate if we’re willing to do the work. democrats and nonpartisan government officialshave worked for years here in washington to

to try to make this health system work. and we've made real progress. and now, republicans in congress are readyto throw away these years and years of progress. they are ready to threaten the collapse ofour insurance markets. they are ready to threaten the health and the safety of millions of americans, simply to make a political point. they are ready to repeal and run. in massachusetts right now, families are watchingthis debate, worried about what happens to them.

kids with diabetes. moms with cancer. grandparents in long-term care. they are worried. hospitals and insurers are watching too. and they are worried. worried about an irresponsible republicanparty that is more interested in political stunts than in helping americans get accessto health care. and i don’t blame them for being worried.

because this isn’t a game. there is no magic replacement plan that will suddenlymake everything all better. in massachusetts, we can’t just snap backto our old health insurance system if republicans decide to rip up the affordable care act. and other states across the country are alsofacing the terrifying prospect that they will be left high and dry as a result of the republicans’reckless actions. every senator here has ideas about how toimprove health care in america. but no democratic senator will vote to destroyit – today – based on the vague assurance that maybe, at some point, republicans mightthink up some kind of replacement plan later on.

the republican strategy is “repeal and run.” repeal and run. that’s not governing. that’s not leadership. it’s one of the most reckless and irresponsiblethings that’s ever been proposed in this congress. i know that some republican senators agreewith that. i know they are worried about whether thisis the right move forward, given all that hangs in the balance.

i hope their consciences get the better ofthem, and they scuttle this plan before it’s too late. i hope that they remember that every single senatorwho votes to destroy health care in america will be responsible for the disastrous consequencesthat come next. if republicans actually want to improve healthcare in america, let’s talk about how to do that. that’s what we were sent here to do. that’s what voters – conservative andliberal, republican and democrat – expect us to do.

but if republicans want to destroy healthcare in america, i will fight them every step of the way. the stakes are too high for the millions ofamericans whose futures are about to be sacrificed so that one party can make a political point. let’s stay here and do the work that needsto be done to make sure every american gets access to high quality, affordable healthcare. repeal and run is for cowards. thank you mr. president, i yield.