WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords today announced her support for historic reform legislation that will reduce insurance premiums and improve access to health care for thousands of Arizona families and small businesses.
A statement by the congresswoman is below, followed by statements of support from Southern Arizonans and a fact sheet on the legislation’s impact on the 8th Congressional District.
I have decided to vote for health insurance reform because it fundamentally is the right thing to do.
My decision comes after a year of debate, listening to tens of thousands of Southern Arizonans and carefully examining the legislation. These reforms will make health care more affordable and accessible for the majority of my constituents ranging from children to seniors.
By ending abusive insurance company practices and offering immediate tax credits to small businesses and individuals who cannot afford to purchase coverage, we will be taking an historic step toward transforming our broken health insurance system.
The benefits of this legislation will be felt immediately. Children with a pre-existing condition cannot be denied coverage, small businesses will be provided a tax credit to purchase health insurance for employees, seniors will be given a rebate if they are impacted by the donut hole and children can stay on their parents’ insurance plan until they reach 26 years of age.
This bill also is good for the backbone of our economy – small businesses. Reforms will prevent them from paying bigger premiums if they have employees with higher health costs due to age or sickness.
A sliding scale will immediately be established to give tax credits to employers with fewer than 25 employees and average annual wages of less than $50,000 who offer health insurance coverage to their employees. And there will be an exemption from employer responsibility payments for employers with 50 or fewer employees.
As a member of the fiscally responsible Blue Dog coalition, I am very pleased that this legislation is fully paid for and will reduce our budget deficit by $138 billion over the next decade.
I first was elected to public office 10 years ago with a commitment that I would do everything in my power to ensure that all Americans would have access to affordable health care. That same year, the people of Arizona voted overwhelmingly for an initiative to expand health care coverage to the working poor of our state.
It is a tragic twist of fate that the United States Congress is moving to extend coverage to 95 percent of our citizens just three days after the Arizona Legislature and Governor Brewer agreed to strip more than 350,000 citizens – 45,000 of whom are children – of health insurance.
The men, women and families I represent want the system fixed – they want solutions not partisan bickering. I wholeheartedly agree.
As we approach this vote, I am acutely aware of the lobbying groups that do not support these reforms. What they cannot spin is who I am or the values that guide my decisions.
I am a native Arizonan, a former small business owner and a military spouse. I have consistently have had one of the most moderate voting records of any member of Congress. My constituents know that I would not support a radical government “takeover” of health care, the creation of “death panels,” the dismantling of private insurance, the public funding of abortions or sponsoring free health insurance for illegal immigrants.
The legislation now before us does not include any of these provisions. But the American people are being made to suffer through millions of dollars of corporate-sponsored distortions intended to scare the public and obstruct the progress of these reforms.
The legislation that will be voted on by Congress represents a strong first step to enacting meaningful health insurance reform. In the days and months following our vote, I will devote significant time and resources to ensuring that individuals, families and small businesses in my district get their questions answered and learn about the new opportunities now available to lower their costs and increase their access to quality, affordable health care.
This is an historic moment for our nation. I am proud to be a part of it.
A wide spectrum of respected community leaders, business owners and individuals know that doing nothing to reform our broken health insurance is not an option. A sampling of their views and experiences are below:
Dr. Richard Carmona
Carmona served as the 17th surgeon general of the United States under President George W. Bush. Last year, he participated in series of health care town halls that the congresswoman held in Tucson, Sierra Vista and Green Valley.
“The issue facing our country is how do we get the best care for the most people at the least cost,” Carmona said. “We spend more for health care than any other nation on Earth, but the metrics of our results don’t reflect that.”
“We need to move toward a health care system, not the sick care system that we have today. This legislation moves us closer to that. This bill is not perfect. But these are complex issues and we must move forward. And then I hope we can sit down with level heads and make it even better for the benefit of the American people.”
John Rivers
Rivers is the president and CEO of the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association. The organization represents nearly all of the state’s 119 hospitals.
“This legislation is good for Arizona,” Rivers said. Our responsibility is to provide health care. From our perspective, the more people who have health care, the better.”
After having worked in the health care industry for nearly 40 years, Rivers believes the legislation “represents a big step forward.”
Dorothy Kret
Kret’s small business, DKA Inc., provides job training and employment to people with disabilities. She can afford to offer health insurance to only about half of her 44 employees because of the high cost.
“We need health insurance reform and we need to make sure people can get coverage for pre-existing conditions,” she said.
Five years ago, the husband of a woman working for Kret was diagnosed with stomach cancer. The woman and husband had health insurance through Kret’s company and the man was treated. The woman left DKA two-and-a-half years ago, but Kret and her current employees are paying higher health insurance costs today because of the costs of that treatment five years ago.
“Why is that fair?,” Kret asked. “She no longer works here and he no longer is covered by our insurance.”
Larry Aldrich
Aldrich is the president and CEO of University Physicians Healthcare, a nonprofit that is the medical practice of the physicians of the University of Arizona College of Arizona. Prior to joining UPH, Aldrich was the COO of The Critical Path Institute, a nonprofit medical research organization.
“Speaking as a health care professional and not on behalf of UPH, I am pleased Congresswoman Giffords has made the tough choice to support this legislation,” Aldrich said. “Clearly, people are not getting the coverage they need. The key issue is that we have an extraordinary number of people who are uninsured. The coverage issue has to be addressed.”
Richard Butrym
Butrym is a 64-year-old widower from Tucson who lost his home and depleted his savings because of medical bills. He was one of the thousands of constituents who contacted Giffords’ office over the past week, urging the congresswoman to vote for health insurance reform.
After losing his wife to cancer and suffering a heart attack, Butrym said he was forced to rely on assistance from the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the state’s Medicaid program.
“I love this country,” said Butrym. “I worked hard. I paid my taxes. People should have access to affordable insurance. The way I was treated, insurance was unaffordable.”
Dr. Ronald Fischler
Fischler, president of the Arizona Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said the bill is especially important to Arizona children who have been victims of program cuts imposed by the Arizona Legislature as it tries to balance the state budget.
“This is an especially poignant moment because last week the Arizona Legislature eliminated KidsCare which provided health care coverage for 40,000 Arizona children of the working poor who cannot afford private coverage and do not qualify for AHCCCS,” he said. “This is the loss of a program that helps people who are working their way out of poverty. These are the people for whom the state saw fit to eliminate health coverage.”
He continued, “There is no doubt that these kids will end up in the emergency rooms, meaning their health care costs will be shifted to everyone. That certainly underscores the need for health reform. I thank Rep. Giffords for her thoughtful decision.”
Tim Sultan
Sultan is a Tucson businessman who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2003. At that time, he was a graduate student at Harvard University and covered by Harvard's health insurance, allowing him to see the best doctors and receive the best medical care.
Now 39, Sultan has been unable to get any health insurance company to cover him – regardless of how much he is willing to pay. “I’ve been immediately disqualified because I have MS,” he said. Today, he must pay cash for all of his medical care.
“I worry about people who don’t have the cash to get the medicine they need,” he said. “I’ve met other people with MS who haven't had the privilege of taking this medicine and are now in bad shape. They have deteriorated rapidly and are quickly losing the ability to walk without a cane or, in some cases, a wheelchair. Why do we consider it a privilege to take medicine that cures us? America is better than that. We need to start taking care of our fellow Americans so we can all be productive citizens and live fully effective lives.”
Richard Oseran
Oseran is a small business owner of Tucson’s Hotel Congress and Maynard’s Restaurant. He strongly supports health insurance reform.
Oseran has about 200 full-time and part-time employees at his two businesses. He offers health insurance to them and pays a portion of the premium with the employee paying the rest.
“We’ve always thought it was really important to give our employees the opportunity to secure health insurance for themselves,” he said. “Health care is something that all Americans should have access to. We’re way behind a lot of other countries on that.”
Larry Hecker
Hecker is a local attorney and longtime community advocate who was honored as 2008 Man of the Year by the Metropolitan Tucson Chamber of Commerce. He also is an adjunct professor at the University of Arizona College of Law teaching the Entrepreneurship Practicum.
Addressing the health insurance crisis is “absolutely essential,” he said. “I happened to be in the emergency room at midweek recently and it was just crazy. The people there didn’t need to be in the emergency room, but they needed medical treatment and that was the only way to get it.”
Bob Strain, mayor of Sierra Vista
“I strongly support health insurance reform,” Strain said. “The time is right for this bill. It’s not perfect, but we need to get the first step taken care of before we can move on to the next step.”
Sierra Vista Herald
In a March 7 editorial, the paper wrote, “We strongly believe that it is time to pass a reconciled health care bill… let’s get the job done.”
Arizona Daily Star
In a March 9 editorial, the Arizona Daily Star wrote that health insurance reform must be passed now – not in five years.
“Elected officials can preserve the system that punishes people who have the bad luck of needing health care, or our representatives can do what is necessary to ensure that all Americans can see a doctor when necessary, purchase affordable health insurance and take care of themselves and their families.”
Based on an analysis of data for Arizona’s 8th Congressional District from the U.S. Census, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Department of Health and Human Services, this bill will:
• Improve employer-based coverage for 447,000 residents.
• Provide tax credits and subsidies to help pay for coverage for up to 176,000
households.
• Improve Medicare for 135,000 beneficiaries, including closing the prescription
medication donut hole for 14,100 seniors.
• Guarantee that 10,300 residents with pre-existing conditions can obtain coverage.
• Allow 15,200 small businesses to obtain affordable health care coverage and
provide tax credits to help reduce health insurance costs for up to 13,400 small
businesses.
• Provide coverage for 40,500 uninsured residents.
• Allow 57,000 young adults to obtain coverage on their parents’ insurance plans.
• Protect up to 900 families from bankruptcy due to unaffordable health care costs.
• Reduce the cost of uncompensated care for hospitals and health care providers by
$38 million.
Employer Sponsored Insurance: Some 447,000 district residents receive health care coverage from their employer. Under the legislation, individuals and families with employer-based coverage can keep the health insurance coverage they have now, and it will improve.
• No co-pays or deductibles for preventive care.
• No more rate increases or coverage denials for pre-existing conditions;
10,300 district residents have pre-existing medical conditions that prevents them
from buying insurance.
• Guaranteed oral, vision, and hearing benefits for children.
Currently Uninsured: Those without insurance will be able to purchase coverage at group rates through a health insurance exchange.
Affordability: Middle class individuals and families will receive affordability credits to ensure they can pay for the coverage they need.
• There are 176,000 households in the district that could qualify for affordability credits to purchase insurance.
• The bill caps annual out-of-pocket costs at $5,950 for individuals and $11,900 for families and eliminates lifetime limits on insurance coverage, ensuring that no citizen will have to face financial ruin because of high health care costs.
Strengthening Medicaid: Expands Medicaid coverage (AHCCCS in Arizona) and dramatically increases federal reimbursement to states for the costs of the program.
Improving Medicare: 135,000 Medicare beneficiaries in the district will see improvements to Medicare through:
• free preventive and wellness care;
• improved primary and coordinated care, improved nursing home quality; and
• strengthening of the Medicare Trust Fund, extending its solvency from 2017 to 2026
More than 14,000 district residents will see the Medicare donut hole reduced by $500 in 2010, cutting brand-name drug costs in the donut hole by 50%, and completely eliminating the donut hole by 2019.
More Employer Sponsored Coverage: Small businesses with up to 100 employees will be able to join the health insurance exchange, benefiting from group rates and a greater choice of insurers.
• There are 15,200 small businesses in the district that will be able to join the health insurance exchange.
• Businesses with 25 employees or less and average wages of less than $50,000 will qualify for tax credits of up to 35% of the costs of providing health insurance. There are up to 13,400 small businesses in the district that could qualify for credits.
• Beginning in 2014, the small business tax credits will cover 50% of premiums.
No deficit spending: The Affordable Health Care for America Act is fully paid-for and cuts the deficit.
• No tax increase for 99% of district residents.
• Half of the costs are paid by eliminating waste, fraud, abuse and excessive profits for private insurers in Medicare and Medicaid
• According to the Congressional Budget Office, the bill will cut the deficit by over $138 billion over the next decade and by $1.2 trillion in the second ten years.
Timeline: Many aspects of the bill are implemented between now and 2013. Here are the major benefits and when they will be in effect:
2010
• Prohibits insurance companies from using pre-existing conditions to exclude children from coverage
• Provides a $250 rebate to Medicare beneficiaries who hit the donut hole in 2010
• Offers tax credits of up to 35 percent of premiums to small businesses that choose to offer coverage
• Provides free preventative care under Medicare
• Bans insurance companies from dropping people from coverage when they get sick
• Prevents insurance companies from placing lifetime caps on coverage
• Extends coverage for young people up to 26th birthday through parents’ insurance
• Prohibitions on post-retirement reductions of retiree benefits
• Expansions of public health workforce, preventive health services and community health centers
• Eliminates cost sharing for preventative services in Medicaid and Medicare
2011-2012
• Free, annual wellness visit and personalized prevention plan services for Medicare beneficiaries
• Provides a 10 percent Medicare bonus payment for primary care physicians and general surgeons
2014
• Full implementation of all health insurance reforms
• Insurers can no longer exclude coverage based on pre-existing conditions, gender, or other factors
• Start of insurance exchanges
• Start of affordability credits
• Provides a choice of coverage through a multi-State plan, available nationwide
• Implements second phase of small business tax credits (up to 50% of the cost of premiums)
2014 and Beyond
• Expands Health Insurance Exchange to increasingly larger employers
• Completely closes the donut hole for seniors by 2020