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Ranking Member Levin Opening Statement at Markup of Health Legislation

September 8, 2016

(Remarks as prepared)

"Mr. Chairman, more than 640,000 Americans today are living with kidney failure, otherwise known as end-stage renal disease, and more than 80 percent of them are covered through Medicare.

"The first bill we are marking up this morning – H.R. 5942 – would establish a new facility-based ESRD demonstration program within Medicare. This demonstration would help make sure that patients receiving dialysis are receiving the high-quality, integrated, and coordinated care that they need by a team of physicians and other health care providers. And since this demonstration program would be within Medicare, it would require this team to provide their dialysis patients with all the benefits entitled under Medicare. I commend Mr. Blumenauer for his work on this legislation.

"Unfortunately, the second bill we are considering under the guise of improving the ACA – H.R. 954 – is actually another attempt by Republicans to undermine the coverage goals of the Affordable Care Act. The ACA has provided quality, affordable health coverage to more than 20 million previously uninsured Americans, and individuals can no longer be denied coverage – as they could in the past – for pre-existing conditions like high blood pressure or diabetes. And yesterday, a new survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the number of uninsured Americans has fallen to just 8.6% - the lowest level ever recorded.

"Republicans say this bill is needed to exempt individuals from paying the individual mandate penalty if a CO-OP plan they were enrolled in is terminated or discontinued mid-year. But what they fail to mention is that the ACA already provides a special enrollment period for individuals who are impacted by this circumstance, so that they do not have to wait until the end of the year to enroll in a new plan. Likewise, in instances when purchasing a new plan would be financially difficult, these individuals could also apply for a hardship exemption from the individual mandate penalty. Therefore, it is unclear why this bill is even necessary, given that the ACA already has other options and solutions in place for those affected by this unique situation."

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Issues:Medicare