Protect The Affordable Care Act
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to protect the Affordable Care Act. Today I urge you to give the Affordable Care Act the same chance we gave America's other great healthcare program, Medicare, way back in 1965. Today Medicare covers over 55…
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to protect the Affordable Care Act. Today I urge you to give the Affordable Care Act the same chance we gave America's other great healthcare program, Medicare, way back in 1965.
Today Medicare covers over 55 million Americans and is a staple for senior care. But let's go back in time and remember what people were saying about Medicare in 1965. The American Medical Association said Medicare is an ``invasion of the voluntary relationship between the patient and the physician.''
The then-Republican leadership said the bill will cost too much. It will never cover enough seniors. It will make taxes too high, and we will be broke within 2 years.
Those are some of the quotes from The New York Times in 1965.
Today, 52 years later, Medicare is one of the most efficient healthcare systems in our country. Why? Because we gave it a chance to flourish.
Mr. Speaker, when we come together on behalf of the American people, we get things done. I ask my colleagues today: Do not repeal the Affordable Care Act. Instead, let's move past the politics of repealing the ACA. Let's learn from five decades of Medicare. Let's give Americans the healthcare coverage they want and they deserve, because in 60 years, it won't really matter whose name is on the program. But what will matter is that we came together and stopped the repeal. What will matter is that we fixed the ACA and made it work for every American.
The American people deserve good health care. If folks have issues with the ACA, then let's fix those issues. Let's make the ACA better. But to rip coverage from 30 million people, to destroy 2.6 million jobs, and to add $350 billion to our deficit is not a good thing.
I ask my colleagues today to keep the ACA.