On the recordJanuary 19, 2011
Last year we took a desperately needed stand for America's families and small businesses over the insurance companies. We took a stand against insurance company abuses like discrimination against the sick, lifetime limits, the prescription drug doughnut hole, and a resulting $1 trillion increase to our deficit. We took a stand for hardworking Americans like Vicky Farrar, who moved to Albuquerque only to discover that to reenroll in a health insurance plan she would end up spending close to a third of her income because of her preexisting condition, high blood pressure. That kind of skyrocketing cost burden has stunted the dreams of American families and small businesses while lining the pockets of insurance company CEOs. But thanks to the American Affordable Care Act, Vicky and her doctor will be put back in charge of her health care and able to choose an affordable insurance policy. I urge my colleagues to vote against a return to the broken health care system that we spent decades trying to fix.
