Tim Kaine: “I would also like to rise to talk about this important issue of healthcare. I have heard my colleagues, Senator Murphy…”

“I would also like to rise to talk about this important issue of healthcare. I have heard my colleagues, Senator Murphy, Senator Merkley, and Senator Wyden, and I know Senator Murray will speak in a minute. We are focusing on the great damage this administration is doing to the healthcare of Americans. I thought maybe I could inject just a little bit of good news into this discussion. The good news I want to describe is positive advances that are still taking place because of the Affordable Care Act, despite the best efforts of the administration to kill the Affordable Care Act. Because Senate colleagues joined together on the floor nearly a year ago to defeat efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, even as the sabotage has been going on, there has been an advance in my State that is very significant. Two weeks ago, my State legislature, after a 4- year debate, decided to become the 33rd State to accept Medicaid expansion. Mr. President and my colleagues, if you want to know whether what you do in this Chamber matters, that vote in August of last year that preserved the Affordable Care Act enabled my State to embrace Medicaid expansion, and in one stroke of one vote, 400,000 Virginians have the ability now to have healthcare maybe for the first time in their lives. That is nearly 5 percent of our population. These are working-age adults, most of them--many of them--working multiple jobs, but they have not been able to afford health insurance.…”