WASHINGTON, DC – Assistant Democratic Leader James E. Clyburn today delivered the following statement on the House floor regarding H.R. 2, the House Republican repeal of patients’ rights under the Affordable Care Act.
“In 1966, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose life and legacy we just finished celebrating, expressed his concerns about this very issue. He stated that, ‘Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.’
“Those words were brought home to me last year when a constituent from Florence, South Carolina told me that she had just been informed by her insurance carrier that because of her 8-year-old daughter’s cancer treatments her family had reached their lifetime benefits limit.
“What could be more inhumane than repealing this law’s patients’ rights and telling that mother the life-saving treatments for her daughter must end? What could be more shocking than the injustice suffered by the middle aged woman who called into a radio program to complain that although she had paid premiums her entire adult life, she was dropped by her insurer when she contracted breast cancer? How can we repeal the remedy to this injustice?
“Dr. King also taught us the ‘time is always ripe to do right.’ After nearly a century of debate, last March the time was ripe, and getting rid of these discriminatory practices was the right thing to do. And it was the reason I called the Bill, the ‘Civil Rights Act of the 21st Century.’ Interestingly, today we are hearing some of the same rhetoric about repeal of patients’ rights that we heard regarding voting rights.
“Do I feel that changes should not be made? Absolutely not. When the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, it did not cover public employees. When the 1965 Voting Rights Act became law, it did not cover congressional and legislative redistricting. The Fair Housing law wasn’t perfect when it was passed. Bi-partisan changes were made to improve all of these measures. I sincerely hope we can develop some bipartisan modifications that increase efficiency and effectiveness, and decrease costs and duplication, none of which will be achieved by repeal.”