Rashida Tlaib: “I remind my colleagues that all of these protections have already passed the House this Congress but have yet to receive…”

“I remind my colleagues that all of these protections have already passed the House this Congress but have yet to receive action in the Senate. I want to remind my colleagues also the way the amendment is drafted right now currently, a medically necessary procedure is defined as, one, healthcare services or supplies needed to diagnose or treat an illness, injury, condition, disease, or symptom that meet accepted standards of medicine; two, healthcare to prevent illness and detect illnesses at an early stage when treatment is likely to work best, again, for services like Pap tests, flu shots, and screening mammograms I want to remind my colleagues, this is a huge barrier. The credit reports are huge barriers for housing and employment for our veterans. We continue to support increased housing for our veterans, increased mental health services for our veterans and all these other issues but, much of that is due to the fact that we have credit reports with medically necessary debt, medical procedures on there, and really no pathway to protect our consumers, our veterans, in this case. I really remind my colleagues again: we cannot continue to support housing and employment services for our veterans, and the credit report, the credit score, all of that, is holding them hostage unable to continue to create a good life in our country especially after sacrificing so much for our Nation. So I really ask my colleagues this is the right thing to do.…”