Last week, three House Committees held hearings about protecting the Affordable Care Act (ACA), receiving testimony from patient advocates, researchers, and ACA supporters.  Members of both parties supported preserving protections for individuals with preexisting conditions.  Democrats on the panels focused on the importance of preserving the healthcare law and the Trump Administration’s efforts to “sabotage” the law.  Republicans addressed the unaffordability and lack of choice of current ACA plans. 

Specifically, the Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing entitled “Texas v. U.S.:  The Republican Lawsuit and Its Impacts on Americans with Pre-Existing Conditions.”  The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, HHS, and Education held a hearing entitled “Impact of the Administration’s Policies Affecting the Affordable Care Act,” and the Education and Labor Committee held a hearing entitled “Examining Threats to Workers with Preexisting Conditions.” 

On February 13, 2019, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health will hold a hearing on the following legislation to ensure protections for pre-existing conditions:

• H.R. 986, the “Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions Act of 2019”, introduced by Rep. Ann Kuster (D-NH), to rescind the Administration’s October 2018 Section 1332 guidance;
• H.R. 987, the “Marketing and Outreach Restoration to Empower Health Education Act of 2019” or the “MORE Health Education Act”, introduced by Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), to restore funding for outreach and enrollment funding to assist consumers in signing up for healthcare; and
• H.R. 1010, introduced by Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL), will reverse the Trump Administration’s rulemaking on short-term, limited-duration insurance plans.