Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 2372) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to clarify the rules relating to veteran health insurance and eligibility for the premium tax credit, and providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 2579) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow the premium tax credit with respect to unsubsidized COBRA continuation coverage.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, before I begin, I want to send my deepest thoughts and prayers to our colleague Whip Scalise, the Capitol Police officers, and the staff members that were injured in yesterday's shooting.

Although my Republican colleagues and I have robust policy discussions, ultimately, we desire the same goals. Today is no different, and our institution is based on the respect and thoughtful debate that remain important pillars of our democracy.

Mr. Speaker, this discussion and debate that we are about to have here is an honest disagreement. There is no suggestion here that there is anybody on this side of the aisle that is any less enthusiastic or less sincere in their support of what it is that our veterans need and desire. This is an honest policy dispute.

And I must tell you, based on long service in this institution, this is an unusual manner in which to proceed. We are actually being asked today to amend a piece of legislation that a month ago left this institution. I have not been witness to this, I believe, in the past; and I hope that, as we go on for the next hour, we will have a chance to connect the dots for our colleagues about why this underlying bill is less than desirable.

Last month, the Republicans brought TrumpCare to the House floor and every Democrat in this institution opposed it. This was the Republican leadership's second attempt to pass the repeal, and it seems that their first attempt was not harmful enough to the American people.

The measure, as passed, takes health insurance from millions of Americans, raises premiums for working families, and places an age tax on older Americans. Middle class Americans would end up on the losing end, while millionaires would receive a handsome, nearly $1 trillion tax cut.

Perhaps most concerning is that Members voted in favor of this legislation without understanding its impact on the American people. There were no hearings on TrumpCare. Amendments were rushed to the floor without committee consideration, and the CBO score was not available at the time the House considered it.

CBO, based on nonpartisan career professionals, provides important context and independent advice for Members of Congress. It provides an opportunity for us to look at the long-term results and ramifications of policies we are considering.

Clearly, our Republican friends don't care about the jarring consequences CBO foretold. The House has ignored certain procedures when considering these important measures.

First, since the Republican repeal bill passed, the CBO confirmed that the measure would leave 23 million Americans without health insurance. It would cut Medicaid by $800 billion, discriminate against individuals with preexisting conditions, and drastically raise premiums for older Americans.

Earlier this week, the CMS actuary confirmed that out-of-pocket costs will rise by 61 percent, and premiums will be 5 percent higher than under current law. Simply put, TrumpCare would force Americans to pay more for lower quality healthcare coverage.

Second, this bill is not appropriate to consider now because it amends the TrumpCare bill, as I noted a moment ago, that has not passed the Senate. And our Senate colleagues have stated they are rewriting a House bill that the President called ``mean.''

Now I would like to turn to my substantive concerns with this bill.

H.R. 2372 would amend the AHCA to allow veterans not enrolled in military-related coverage to receive tax credits. It does nothing to fix the issues in the TrumpCare bill.

Whether or not you initially supported the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan--and I was one of the few in this institution that voted and spoke against the war in Iraq those years ago--these wars have created 1 million more veterans, and we need to do what we can to provide them with the support that we promised them.

Let me remind my colleagues that the TrumpCare bill would shift costs onto veterans through per capita caps, roll back Medicaid expansion for veterans, and erode essential health benefits and preexisting conditions protections.

The Republican health plan would dramatically cut Medicaid, a program that provides healthcare for nearly 2 million veterans. And the President's recently released budget takes it a step further by cutting veterans' programs, including disability benefits.

Even if this bill is incorporated into TrumpCare legislation, it would not undo the terrible cuts in the bill: enormous coverage losses, more than $800 billion worth of cuts to Medicaid, unravel important consumer protections or cuts to programs designed to help address the opioid addiction crisis in my State of Massachusetts and throughout the Nation.

I am quite sure everyone in this institution at this moment and those who are viewing know somebody close to them who is addicted to opioids.

In addition, Medicaid is now a program that many middle class Americans rely on for long-term care. Thanks to Medicare and Medicaid, your parents are not living in your attic.

This bill does nothing to fix the Republican healthcare plan and could create new problems. If Republicans are serious about addressing middle class American healthcare needs, they should go back to the drawing board and start over and work with us.

This exercise is a distraction from the real issue, which is the harm caused by the underlying TrumpCare bill. Instead, we should be considering issues that help hardworking Americans and their families.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano), who is a well-known advocate for veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from New Hampshire (Ms. Kuster).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I want to make sure that the American people understand the impact of the underlying bill that H.R. 2372 intends to amend.

The bill purports to make a fix to the Republicans' harmful healthcare bill, but the fix is inadequate for the harm the underlying legislation would cause.

We have independent verification from both the CMS actuary and the Congressional Budget Office to reinforce our position. The Republican healthcare bill would cause millions to lose health insurance, face higher premiums and out-of-pocket costs, and jeopardize the health security that Americans with preexisting conditions have today.

We should be working to improve our healthcare system, not making it more difficult and unaffordable for America's families. If this is such a great policy, let's not tie it to a bill that is doomed in the Senate. In fact, if anybody can find out where it is even being discussed or authored in the Senate, they should inform us. It clearly is not being done in the open. Let's not tie it to that simple provision, and pass it as it stands alone today.

Middle class Americans can't afford this recipe. I urge my colleagues to work over the next few months to educate the American people about the Republican health plan and how harmful it is to our Nation's health. Hospitals oppose it, doctors oppose it, and patient groups oppose it. The bill needs to be scrapped. We should instead be helping the middle class, not giving giant tax cuts to the wealthy.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 379 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the honorable gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only.

General Leave

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. Speaker, the day before yesterday, the Rules Committee met and reported a rule for consideration for two very important measures. First, the resolution provides for the consideration of H.R. 2372, the VETERAN Act. This rule provides for 1 hour of debate, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee.

In addition, the resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 2579, the Broader Options for Americans Act. This rule provides for 1 hour of debate, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee.

Mr. Speaker, both of these bills are a part of the House of Representatives' commitment to repair damage done by the Affordable Care Act. These bills seek to amend key parts of the American Health Care Act, which the House passed on May 4 of 2017.

The American Health Care Act expands health coverage options for Americans by allowing them to use advanceable, refundable tax credits to purchase State-approved plans in the individual market. The two bills will ensure the tax credits that Americans will use to purchase health insurance policies will be available to all who qualify.

When the House passed the American Health Care Act, the bill included individual, advanceable, flexible, refundable tax credits that individuals can use to purchase health insurance policies on the individual market. When the bill passed, however, procedural reasons prevented the House from including two key groups of Americans: veterans who are eligible for coverage through the VA and individuals who need to get continuation of coverage through an employer's COBRA- sponsored plan. The two bills covered under this rule will remedy that same problem.

In recent years, the Internal Revenue Service has adopted a practice of providing eligible veterans the choice to get financial support for a private plan in lieu of enrolling in healthcare provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

H.R. 2372, the VETERAN Act, will codify this and continue that practice retroactively for both the Affordable Care Act's Premium Tax Credit and the new tax credit created in the American Health Care Act. Veterans will continue to be able to get premium support when they opt out to purchase a private health plan instead of enrolling in the healthcare provided by the VA.

Similarly, H.R. 2579 will expand access to the new American Health Care Act tax credit to COBRA, in the continuation of that coverage. Under COBRA, group plans allow beneficiaries to keep their existing employer-sponsored coverage if they are laid off, work fewer hours, or lose insurance due to a change in family circumstances.

Often, those who need to use the COBRA coverage are those most in need, such as individuals who are in the middle of a treatment course and want to preserve their network of providers. COBRA coverage is frequently very expensive, since the individual policyholder must now pay all the premium for their policy.

H.R. 2579 will extend the new tax credits to include people receiving COBRA coverage and enable people who need it to continue taking advantage of their employer-sponsored healthcare coverage, even after a triggering event.

Mr. Speaker, the bills the House will consider under this rule will help fulfill the promise Republicans made to the American people. We made repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act with something that works the highest priority. Six weeks ago, we took the first step in fulfilling that promise with the passage of the American Health Care Act, and today we will take another step forward creating a healthcare system that works for all Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support for the rule, I urge support for the underlying legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Let me just say that I do agree with the honorable gentleman from Massachusetts. Yesterday, I think Speaker Ryan gave one of the finest speeches that I have heard on the floor of this House.

I also agree that there will be ample time for debate on all of the issues that are encompassed in today's rule, and I look forward to that spirited debate, as I always have in the past. But I also agree with the gentleman, that some of that debate may be best left for another day.

I also want to acknowledge the gentleman from Massachusetts and his comments about David Vince. Any time one of our staffers departs from either the minority or the majority side, it is obviously a time of gratitude for their service, and we look forward to what is next in their lives.

But I want to join with the gentleman from Massachusetts that we appreciate the service of David Vince to the minority and to the members of the Rules Committee in general.

So thank you for your service to the House, David.

Mr. Speaker, I applaud my colleagues for all of their work on the rules and the underlying bills.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

The previous question was ordered.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 379, I call up the bill (H.R. 2372) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to clarify the rules relating to veteran health insurance and eligibility for the premium tax credit, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and to include in the Record any extraneous material on the bill currently under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I would first like to thank Chairman Brady for his strong support of this bill, the Veterans Equal Treatment Ensures Relief and Access Now Act, the VETERAN Act. This important legislation, which was reported out of the Ways and Means Committee on a bipartisan basis, will ensure all eligible veterans have access to quality, affordable private health insurance.

Mr. Speaker, this Chamber cannot underscore enough the sacrifices of our veterans and the sacrifices they have made to protect the freedom and individual liberty of each American. In return for their faithful service, these brave men and women are promised that, when they return home, they will have access to affordable healthcare through the Veterans Administration.

However, some veterans decide to forego their VA benefits and, instead,

choose an alternative healthcare. Veterans should have the opportunity to choose the best healthcare option available to fit their needs. It is only right that our veterans are given the same opportunity as our other citizens have and the citizens that they defend.

There have been conflicting reports about the eligibility of certain veterans to receive tax credits for all health insurance under the American Health Care Act. Make no mistake about it, no veteran would see a change in their eligibility status as a result of the AHCA.

In fact, despite the Democrat's claims about veterans' eligibility for tax credits under the AHCA, when they voted for and signed ObamaCare into law, they failed to include this very same clarification in statute. Rather, they left it to the Department of the Treasury to issue a regulation clarifying that veterans are still eligible for a credit unless they are enrolled in a VA healthcare benefit plan.

So today this legislation, authorized by my friend and a veteran, Mr. Sam Johnson, should put into law current practice confirming that veterans can, without question, get a tax credit to purchase health insurance in the individual market if they choose not to enroll in VA coverage.

It is important to note that AHCA initially proposed to put into law this current practice, but that provision had to be removed due to Senate guidance about their Chamber's unique reconciliation rules. While I am disappointed that this happened, I am glad that this body is acting on this item today.

I would note that this legislation has received the support of several veterans' organizations, including the Paralyzed Veterans of America, the Association of the United States Navy, and The Retired Enlisted Association.

I think that something we can all agree on is that our veterans should have the choice in where they receive their healthcare, just like the American citizens they defended. In that spirit, this bill is something we can all get behind.

To our veterans and their families, I thank them for their service. To my friend Sam Johnson, I thank him for his leadership and the authoring of this important bill.

I ask my colleagues for their support of the VETERAN Act.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I agree with Ranking Member Neal that this is just a difference of opinion. It is a difference of policy opinion. There is no animosity on either side of this debate.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Roe), chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers at this time, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, again, I would like to express my gratitude to Ranking Member Neal and his hard work on the Ways and Means Committee and his keeping the issue before us.

But the AHCA makes no changes to veterans' healthcare. Under this bill, unless vets decide to enroll in VA coverage, they are eligible for financial support. Veterans should have the opportunity to choose the best healthcare option to meet their needs. It is only right that our veterans are given the same opportunities as the citizens that they defended.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the VETERAN Act. I ask for its passage, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 379, I call up the bill (H.R. 2579) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow the premium tax credit with respect to unsubsidized COBRA continuation coverage, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill currently under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I, too, want to add my thoughts and prayers for our colleague and friend, Congressman Steve Scalise, and the victims of yesterday's shooting. May God be with them during this time.

Mr. Speaker, my bill, Broader Options for Americans Act, is before us today.

We have all heard about COBRA continuation coverage, which allows someone with group health insurance who experiences a qualifying life event to keep their job-based coverage when they no longer have a job and, most importantly, their plan's networks of providers--doctors, hospitals, et cetera--for a certain amount of time.

Currently, consumers with COBRA coverage, who could face a cost of up to 102 percent of plan costs, are not eligible for ObamaCare's Federal subsidies. My bill allows individuals who pay for the full cost of such continuation of coverage to qualify for the tax credit established under the American Health Care Act.

This allows those consumers, including clergy, church lay workers, and their dependents who are experiencing similar circumstances and who get their coverage through church plans, who have been affected by sudden life changes to receive assistance to pay for their unsubsidized health premiums.

This bill represents another step forward in our continuing work to help Americans access more options for true patient-centered healthcare.

Mr. Speaker, this hits close to home for me. As a high school student, my dad lost his job of 25 years. I think the gentleman from Massachusetts has heard that story before. We, as a family, lost our healthcare and went into COBRA coverage.

This is a solution that impacts people across America, and I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pass this legislation today.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on a personal basis, I have a tremendous amount of love and respect for Mr. Neal.

We, obviously, have a disagreement. I tell my daughters about how a bill becomes law, and I don't need to tell the gentleman from Massachusetts how a bill becomes law, but we certainly, I think, believe that there are opportunities to not only improve what you say is the Affordable Care Act but the bill that we passed. That is what we are doing today.

I hope to work with him to continue to do that, as the Senate passes its own bill, and, hopefully, go to a conference committee. Hopefully, the gentleman will be on that conference committee.

I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts.

Reclaiming my time, not lately. Two years ago.

One of the frustrations about the CBO report that never gets reported is the fact that millions of people will choose not to have healthcare. That is what the CBO says.

It is not often repeated in the national media or on the floor here, but I would just kind of remind everybody that, often, the other side of the aisle speaks a lot about choice and the freedom to choose. And with respect to healthcare, that is what millions of people will do, according to CBO.

I would also like to remind my friend--and I do mean that--that there are millions of Americans in my State alone who have insurance but don't have the choice of provider they once had or the choice of a hospital they once had. That is pretty traumatic.

There are people who have insurance, but premiums have doubled and tripled in the last several years and out-of-pocket expenses for those who are not subsidized have gone to levels that are unprecedented.

I surely appreciate and would remind the gentleman from Massachusetts that this bill before us today simply says that we expand choices, we expand options for Americans by allowing them for the very first time to receive financial assistance if they lose their healthcare insurance.

I know it is not perfect, but it is good. I hope that we can improve on all these aspects that the gentleman and I have talked about today.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I want to express again, as I did earlier, the support we have for the Capitol Police and others for the good work they do every single day and extend our best wishes to Majority Whip Scalise.

My friend, Mr. Tiberi, who is managing time on the Republican side, said he was, I think, 17 years old. If he were here and had supported the Clinton healthcare bill, that never would have happened. That would be another way that we might want to look at.

Mr. Speaker, as I said a bit ago, this is an unusual procedure. We are being asked to amend legislation that left the institution. Heaven knows where the Republican healthcare bill rests today. The President calls it mean; the Senate won't tell us where they are, as they write the bill, and when it might emerge; and we find ourselves offering amendments to something that is not going to happen.

H.R. 2579, the Broader Options for Americans Act, would allow premium tax credits to be used for unsubsidized COBRA coverage under TrumpCare. Unfortunately, this does nothing to fix the AHCA, the underlying measure this bill intends to amend.

Older Americans are likely to rely on COBRA, and the AHCA would allow insurers to charge older Americans up to five times more than they charge younger Americans. The tax credits in H.R. 2579 would not make COBRA coverage any more affordable for the American people. In addition, it could potentially weaken the risk pool coverage because it would encourage older and sicker workers to remain on COBRA that could hurt small businesses. This is simply a backdoor way for States to discriminate against existing conditions.

Because of weakening essential healthcare in the underlying

TrumpCare bill, COBRA is going to be needed again to help people who leave employment for health reasons or have preexisting conditions.

Let me remind the American people how we got here in the first place. Last month, Republicans brought TrumpCare to the House floor and passed it without a single Democrat supporting it. The measure, as passed, would take away health insurance for millions of Americans, raise premiums for working families, and place an age tax on older Americans.

The bill is just one of the many promises the Republican leadership continues to make in an effort to twist arms for votes from their caucus to pass TrumpCare.

I am also concerned that the House ignored important procedures when considering bills that are on the floor today.

First, since the Republican bill passed, the CBO numbers confirmed the measure would force Americans to pay more for lower quality healthcare coverage. That is not in dispute.

Second, this bill is not appropriate to consider now because it amends TrumpCare, and it hasn't even passed the Senate.

Even if this bill was incorporated into TrumpCare, it would not undo the terrible cuts included in the measure. It would leave 23 million Americans without health insurance, cut Medicaid by $800 billion, discriminate against individuals with preexisting conditions; and will drastically raise premiums for older Americans.

It would unravel important consumer protections or cut programs designed to address the opioid addiction crisis in my State of Massachusetts, and throughout the Nation. I am quite certain everyone here and watching this debate has someone close to them dealing with a drug or alcohol addiction.

In addition, many middle class Americans rely on Medicaid for long- term care. That is beginning to resonate with the American people.

This bill does nothing to fix the Republican repeal measure, as I have noted, and it is likely to create more and new problems.

I encourage my Republican friends and colleagues to go back to the drawing board, craft a bill with us, and fix the problems in the Affordable Care Act. There is a chance to do that.

Twenty-three million more Americans have health insurance because of the passage of the Affordable Care Act. Now is not the time to retreat. In times like this, we should be advancing these arguments in this institution for hardworking Americans and their families.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Will the gentleman yield?

What is a conference committee? When is the last time one of those occurred in this institution?