Annie Kuster: “I thank Chairman Pallone for yielding, and I thank him for his guidance and leadership on the Energy and Commerce…”

“I thank Chairman Pallone for yielding, and I thank him for his guidance and leadership on the Energy and Commerce Committee as we advanced critical legislation this week to stabilize the Affordable Care Act and drive down prescription drug costs for all Americans. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of my legislation, H.R. 986, the Protecting Americans With Preexisting Conditions Act. As a patient with a preexisting condition myself, I rise today to stand with over 52 million Americans and over 200,000 Granite Staters who live with preexisting conditions every single day. They could have been denied access to healthcare prior to passage of the Affordable Care Act, and many were. While we recognize that we need to strengthen and stabilize the ACA, we should equally accept the principle that nobody should be denied coverage because of a preexisting condition. When you think about it, asthma, allergies, Alzheimer's, cancer, diabetes, just go right through the alphabet, having a child, even, any of these are preexisting conditions. In my home State of New Hampshire and across this country, opioid and alcohol addiction are preexisting conditions.…”