Bill Nelson: “I would say amen to the comments of the Senator from Illinois, our Democratic whip. He spoke on two subjects very…”

“I would say amen to the comments of the Senator from Illinois, our Democratic whip. He spoke on two subjects very eloquently--the subject of opioids and the subject of ripping apart families in immigration, both of which require immediate action. Healthcare Now, Mr. President, I want to speak on something that requires immediate action. There are 130 million Americans in this country who have a preexisting condition. The Affordable Care Act that we passed 7 or 8 years ago guarantees insurance coverage if you have a preexisting condition. Lo and behold, the Trump administration is trying to rip that out of the Affordable Care Act, the law--130 million Americans and almost 8 million just in my State of Florida. They want to repeal and kill the Affordable Care Act. This is one way to do it because the Trump administration and congressional Republicans and their allies have repeatedly tried and failed to kill the Affordable Care Act but now are trying to dismantle it piece by piece by pulling out economic undersupports of the law. As a result, they successfully did that and attached it to the tax bill that went through, and we are seeing the results of that. The premiums are going up. Now they want to basically kill the bill by saying that it is not a requirement of the law that insurance companies cover a preexisting condition. Let me give you some examples of preexisting conditions: Alzheimer's, cancer, acne. How about simply being a woman? Let me repeat that.…”