Cory Booker: “I have watched as this body has recently begun to really work in a bipartisan fashion on trying to stabilize the…”

“I have watched as this body has recently begun to really work in a bipartisan fashion on trying to stabilize the insurance markets under the Affordable Care Act. Under the leadership of Senator Murray, the ranking member of the HELP Committee, and Senator Alexander, the chairman of the HELP Committee, efforts have been going on, and a number of hearings have been held on what needs to be done to stabilize and strengthen the Affordable Care Act. This is coming about because of a crisis. In January of this year, leading from December, we have had people-- like Standard & Poor's--talking about how stable these exchanges were. Over the last months, we have seen many actions--threatening cost- sharing, not advertising the markets--many actions taken by the Trump administration that have weakened the markets and put the markets in crisis. But it is actually not the markets that are in crisis; it is fellow Americans. People want the same thing. Whether Republican or Democrat, from the West, East, North, South, or the heart of our country, they want the same thing: They want quality, affordable care. We have come a long way to where we are right now. Under the Affordable Care Act, we have increased the number of Americans with health insurance by over 20 million. We have been able to bend the cost curve.…”