Slaughter Says Reform Bill Greatly Expands Access to Quality, Affordable Health Care

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Slaughter Says Reform Bill Greatly Expands Access to Quality, Affordable Health Care

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, Chairwoman of the House Committee on Rules, today said that historic legislation reforming the health care system will help ordinary Americans afford quality medical care. The new legislation will help families across the country and in Western New York by offering a level of security to people who have previously struggled with rising and sometimes unaffordable health care costs. Slaughter appeared with House Leadership today on the front lawn of the Capitol to unveil the plan.

“Today is certainly a historic day. We’ve been talking about reforming our health care system since the time of Teddy Roosevelt and today we’re one step closer to making sure Americans have access to quality, affordable health care,” said Slaughter. “With this bill the notion of preconditions will be all in the past, yearly and lifetime caps from the insurance industry will be gone, the donut hole will be closed and we’re going to allow 36 million more Americans access to coverage. I’m particularly pleased that we worked to create a bill that is will not add one penny to the deficit and am eager to continue work on this bill in the Rules Committee.”

The America’s Affordable Health Choices Act now proceeds to the Rules Committee before a vote on the House floor. Slaughter has been Chairwoman of the Rules Committee since 2007. She has put text of the bill on her Rules Committee website available at: http://www.rules.house.gov/.

Slaughter has worked to insert a provision into the health care bill that would ban insurance companies from denying coverage to women by calling domestic violence a “pre-existing condition”. The provision would go into effect on January 10, 2010.

“It is absolutely ridiculous that a woman can be denied coverage because she was a victim of domestic abuse, and I am proud that we are putting an end to this deplorable practice,” said Slaughter. “I was personally offended by this practice on the part of insurance companies, and I worked with my colleagues in the House leadership to guarantee that women who are victims of domestic abuse will be able to receive health care that women in America receive the quality health care they deserve.”

Slaughter has been a tireless advocate for women over the course of her career in the House of Representatives. She is a co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Choice caucus, and a major author of the Violence Against Women Act. She also has introduced legislation to combat sexual assault in the military.

This morning, Slaughter joined with her colleagues in the Democratic caucus for an unveiling of the bill on the West Front of the Capitol. The historic rollout featured a senior citizen paying far too much for medication and stuck in “donut hole,” a small business owner who couldn’t provide health care to his employees, mother denied coverage because her infertility was considered a preexisting condition, worse yet her husband was denied coverage because of “spousal infertility,” and a law school student fighting for reliable coverage for young Americans. All of them praised the bill for solving the problems of everyday Americans and thanked the Democratic members of Congress for putting their interests above that of insurance companies.

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