On the recordJuly 17, 2013
Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to this 38th attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Our country needs affordable care. My constituents in Queens, New York, need affordable health care. Right now, only 17,000 New Yorkers buy their own health insurance because the insurance premium rates are too high, and 2.6 million New Yorkers do not have health insurance. Nationwide, 13 million people are uninsured. The most exciting part is that ObamaCare is already working. As of this morning, the new, approved health care premiums available in the New York State health care exchanges for 2014 are, on average, 50 percent lower than this year's insurance premiums. That is not even taking into account individuals who can take advantage of other Federal subsidies and that everyone with a health insurance plan will be able to gain access to basic, free preventative health care services. I want to thank New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature for their leadership on this issue. With all the partisan sniping across the aisle about health care, we cannot lose sight of why our country needs ObamaCare. Better access to affordable, preventative health care is essential to reining in health care costs; and more importantly, it's essential for a healthy America. ____________________
