Defending Patients with Pre-Existing Conditions as Texas Lawsuit Begins
***Press Release***
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 5, 2018 | Contact: Kate Stotesbery 202-225-4865 |
Defending Patients with Pre-Existing Conditions as Texas Lawsuit Begins
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), a senior member of the House Ways & Means Committee, today joined Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, their colleagues, and patients to sound the alarm on Republican attempts to end protections for those with pre-existing conditions. As oral arguments begin in Texas on a lawsuit to strike down protections for people with pre-existing conditions, Rep. Doggett made the following remarks, which you can view here and read below:
"House Republicans seem to be afflicted with a serious pre-existing condition. It's called ‘amnesia.' They have forgotten how much those with pre-existing conditions—almost half of the population in Texas—how much they suffered before the Affordable Care Act, unable to find affordable coverage. At the White House, in Congress, and now in the courts, Republicans are pulling out all the stops to stop those with pre-existing conditions from obtaining comprehensive health insurance coverage. At this very moment, in a U.S. District courtroom in Fort Worth, a hearing is underway in the case of Texas v. U.S.
That would pull us backward to an era of discrimination. Back in the days of fine print and clever caveats, if you could afford your coverage, it usually meant it didn't cover you when you needed it. But instead of closing the uninsured gap, Republicans are dead set on throwing more families into the uninsured abyss. In July, I introduced an amendment in the Ways and Means Committee to require insurance coverage of preexisting conditions. Every Republican voted against that protection. The only way to change our health care law for the better is to change the lawmakers who are, at every turn, undermining it."
Patient Kelly Gregory, who grew up down the road from the childhood home of Sam Houston, is a veteran and a single mother, a business owner, and, most recently, a health care activist living with stage 4 (metastatic) breast cancer. Speaking of her experience with being denied coverage for pre-existing conditions, she shared:
"If we allow this lawsuit to go through, and we allow Republicans in Congress to decimate health care the way they want to, I stand here today as essentially a ghost of Christmas future. To show you the possibilities that could happen if we go back to the way things were. I stand here today, a rebuke to those in political leadership who would say that no one in this country dies for a lack of health care.
I'm here as a witness to say to those who would say that it is ‘deranged' to say that the decisions that are made inside these walls are going to lead to people's deaths. Sometimes, when you tell the truth, it can sound deranged. Now, my story is not extraordinary because it's unique. It's extraordinary because it happens in this country every day… Bring this issue to light."
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