Washington, D.C. - The Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health will hold a hearing tomorrow on several Republican health care bills, including one proposed by Full Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) that he says will make sure people with pre-existing conditions continue to get covered. Today, Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) set the record straight on Walden’s proposal, which is missing an entire section, will undermine consumer protections in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and put the insurance companies back in charge by allowing them to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions.
“Under Chairman Walden’s proposal insurance companies will be able to charge people with pre-existing conditions whatever they want for health care," Pallone said. “This proposal will place the care of our most vulnerable back in the hands of insurance companies, who will once again be able to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions. This is nothing but a stalling tactic to distract from the fact that Congressional Republicans don’t have a replacement plan that can provide the quality care and coverage provided by the Affordable Care Act."
Tomorrow, the Energy and Commerce Committee will debate a number of bills including Chairman Walden’s proposal at a hearing on the ACA individual markets that would either lead to Americans losing their health care coverage or paying more for their health care coverage. The proposals that will be considered include legislation that would:
* Allow insurers to substantially increase costs for older Americans while doing little to help young people enroll;
* A verification bill that could deter healthy people from enrolling in health insurance during Special Enrollment Periods (SEP) due to onerous requirements, which could lead to SEP enrollees being even sicker;
* A policy that reduces grace periods for marketplace enrollees receiving assistance to pay their monthly premiums, which could cause people to lose coverage for a one time late payment.
