John Conyers: “I wanted to begin our discussion with H.R. 1549, which will be up tomorrow, Helping Sick Americans Now Act. I am not…”

“I wanted to begin our discussion with H.R. 1549, which will be up tomorrow, Helping Sick Americans Now Act. I am not supporting this bill because the bill's proposals are counterintuitive to the anticipated outcome of the Prevention and Public Health Fund. This legislation strips 4 years of funding from the prevention fund to pay for a very short extension of a new enrollment in the preexisting condition insurance plan. Further, the bill insists on a partisan offset that effectively eliminates the Prevention and Public Health Fund through 2016 to, instead, reopen the Federal High-Risk Pool Program provided by the Affordable Care Act through the end of the year. While I support reopening the high-risk pool, I cannot support how this bill goes about creating the funding. ____________________”