Washington, DC--Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY-17) issued the following statement after casting a “YES” vote before the full House of Representatives to pass comprehensive health care reform. Rep. Engel is a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health, and was instrumental in ensuring specific changes in the reconciliation bill to provide fair and equitable treatment New York and other “do-gooder” states. A video of Rep. Engel’s floor speech can be viewed here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-59UFirDzc

“Today marks a historic day in the history of our country as the House of Representatives voted to pass comprehensive health reform – a vote as monumental as other landmark domestic legislation such as Social Security, Medicare, and the Civil Rights laws. Decades have gone by, Presidents have come and gone, and millions of people have had to endure life without health care insurance coverage. Millions of families have gone bankrupt as leaders have failed to revise our health care system to make it affordable for almost every American.

“At long last, that quest for reform – something supported over the years by both Democrats and Republicans – is over. The House passed the Senate health care reform bill, and now awaits Senate-passage of the reconciliation alterations to the bill to make the impending law more fair and equitable to all states. I fought for those changes to enable states – such as New York – who have done the right thing for its citizens for a long time to be properly compensated for Medicaid and uncompensated care. I am pleased to say that effort succeeded, and the revised bill is much kinder to New York and those other states.

“Despite months of rhetoric and mistruths uttered by the opposition, and the fear and uncertainty that those words caused, the American people will receive reform which will improve lives, and more importantly, save lives. For the vast majority of Americans, no changes to their health care coverage will occur at all. Meanwhile, millions of more Americans will be able to receive basic care. If nothing was done, premiums would keep rising on families and businesses and more and more Americans would find themselves without coverage and in a dire situation.

“What the legislation will do is make health care affordable for the middle class. It will mean no longer will a hard-working American get sick and be unable to seek treatment. It will mean seniors will have more security when it comes to their health care choices. It means that if someone loses or changes their job, they won’t go without health coverage. It means that people who have a pre-existing condition will not be denied treatment which may save their life. It means that young Americans can remain on their parents’ plan until they are 26 years old, so they can build their own careers without worrying about their health coverage. It means a victory for the American people.

“This is what it means for the people of District 17 in New York, from the Bronx, Rockland and Westchester Counties. These are numbers which are mirrored in most of the other 434 districts in the nation:

• Improved coverage for 400,000 residents, or 58% of the district, who already have health insurance. It enables them to keep their coverage while prohibiting annual and lifetime limits, banning denials for pre-existing conditions and a reduction in preventative care costs.
• Tax credits and other assistance provided for up to 136,000 families and 15,000 small businesses to help them afford coverage. Citizens who do not have coverage from their employer could purchase through the new health insurance exchange. To help afford it, this bill has the largest middle-class tax cut for health care in history.
• Improves Medicare for 91,000 beneficiaries, including closing the donut hole. Benefits are improved by providing free preventative care and wellness care and enhanced nursing home care. The Medicare Trust Fund is strengthened, now solvent until 2026. Also, annually 7,000 district seniors enter the Medicare Part D prescription drug donut hole and must pay the full cost of their medication. They will receive a rebate in 2010, 50% discounts in 2011 and a complete closure of the donut hole within a decade.
• Extend coverage to 55,000 uninsured residents in the district, as 95% of all Americans will finally have access to health care.
• Coverage for 12,000 individuals in the district who have pre-existing conditions like cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Once the bill becomes law, they cannot be denied affordable coverage.
• In 2008, 600 families in district suffered health care-related bankruptcies from costs not covered by insurance. The bill caps annual out-of-pocket costs at $6,200 for individuals and $12,400 for families who purchase through the exchange or are insured by small businesses.
• Young adults – 55,000 who currently live in district – would be eligible to stay on their parents’ policies until they turn 26. For those under 30, the bill creates new, inexpensive policies to protect them from catastrophic health care costs.
• There are 16 community health centers in the district that provide health care for the poor and medically underserved. They would be eligible for approximately $20.8 million in new assistance.
• Protect hospitals and health providers from uncompensated care from individuals who lack coverage and were thus unable to pay their bills. Local providers would save over $300 million as a result.

“My friends on the other side of the aisle talk about this bill being ‘flawed,’ but the only flaw I find, is in their argument. For six years, they controlled both Houses of Congress and the Presidency and not once did they act to correct the problems with health care, not even to go incrementally, as they suggest now. I regret they chose to be obstructionist rather than to join with the Majority and do what we all came here to do – to help serve the American people.

“I have always been proud to serve as a Member of Congress, and I tonight, as I cast the 216th and deciding vote on the reconciliation package, is the proudest I have ever been over that span of time.”