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March 27, 2017
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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, the budget is about choices, and those choices involve arithmetic. Apparently, the Republican strategy on the budget does not recognize arithmetic. When you start with a deficit, their strategy to deal with the deficit is to increase defense spending and to pass massive tax cuts. That will not end up helping the deficit.
As we have seen with the choice in health care, they made bad choices. Whatever you think about the Affordable Care Act, their plan was demonstrably worse. Their plan would increase the number of people uninsured by 24 million, bring higher prices and worse policies, but tax cuts for millionaires.
What I couldn't understand was not what were the ups and downs for politics, but who was for that--24 million more uninsured, higher prices, and worse policies?
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after House GOP Leadership postponed consideration of H.R. 1628 – Trumpcare:
“Today is a victory for health care security for millions of families. The bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act was a bad deal for the American people, and even those who oppose the Affordable Care Act recognized the serious flaws with the Republican plan. By every measure, the Republican bill made things worse – by increasing the number of uninsured, forcing almost everyone else to pay more for less, while giving a huge tax cut to the wealthy.”
March 24, 2017
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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, as we talk about the Affordable Care Act, I think it is important to remind ourselves of the situation before it passed: costs were going through the roof, those with preexisting conditions could not get insurance, women were paying more than men, and every year millions of people were losing their insurance.
We passed the Affordable Care Act. Since then, the costs have continued to go up, but at the lowest rate in 50 years. Those with preexisting conditions can get insurance at the standard rate. Women are no longer paying more than men. Instead of millions of people losing their insurance every year, more than 20 million more people now have insurance.
The full name of the Affordable Care Act is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
March 22, 2017
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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, today we are considering a bill that purports to make it easier for small businesses to obtain coverage, and tomorrow we will vote on a bill that will take away health insurance coverage for 24 million Americans and force everyone else to pay more for less. So not only are we considering a bill today that will make things worse, we are considering it a day before we vote on ruining health security for working families in order to provide tax cuts for the wealthy.
As we debate the possible replacement of the Affordable Care Act, I think it is instructive that we look back at what the situation was before the ACA passed.
Listening to some, you would think that the costs weren't going up at all. In fact, costs were going through the roof before the ACA, and small businesses, particularly, were having spectacular cost increases--and that is until somebody got sick. At that point, you were unlikely to be able to afford any insurance at all.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the White House released an outline of its Fiscal Year 2018 budget priorities, known as the “skinny budget.”
“This budget proposal is yet another broken promise from the Administration to the American people. Cutting $54 billion from programs that help protect and support working families to learn and earn is no way to grow the national economy or put people back to work. Working families deserve a budget that invests in their health and futures, boosts wages, helps them balance work and family life, and levels the playing field for them and their children to succeed. President Trump’s budget proposal eliminates and reduces vital programs for students, teachers, and workers that will endanger public education, make college less affordable, and reduce the availability of workforce training
U.S. Rep. Robert C. "Bobby" Scott met with Peninsula health care providers Monday and said they voiced concerns over losing Medicaid funding under a plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.
Last week, the GOP-led Congress released a copy of a bill to replace the ACA called the American Health Care Act. Provisions in the bill call for eliminating the individual mandate and penalties for not having insurance, and using refundable tax credits to help participants pay for care. It also calls for changes to how Medicaid payments for care for low-income, elderly and uninsured people are paid.
Scott held two meetings in Hampton Roads Monday, one at Chesapeake Regional HealthCare in Chesapeake and one at Southeastern Virginia Health System's Physicians Community Health Center in Newport News. The meetings were closed to the media, but in a phone interview after the meetings, Scott said they were productive and gave him good insight to take back to Washington.
Issues:Health Care
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Congressional Budget Office announced that 24 million more Americans would be uninsured under the Republicans’ Pay More For Less bill.
"The Congressional Budget Office has confirmed what we already knew - that millions of Americans would lose access to affordable health insurance under the Republican plan. This proposal was put together without considering the fundamental principles of arithmetic. By skewing the tax credits toward higher income families, it only shifts costs onto those living paycheck to paycheck.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Monday, March 13, 2017, Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) will meet with hospital administrators, doctors, and nurses to discuss federal health care policy and the American Healthcare Act, which is the House Republican proposal to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.
Each meeting is closed to the press, but there will be a media availability following each event at approximately 11:15 am and 3:15 pm.
Issues:Health Care
March 9, 2017
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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to H.R. 985. In addition to the legislation's many problems that have already been mentioned by my colleagues, I am particularly concerned about what the bill does in the so-called FACT Act, which will have a devastating impact on workers exposed to asbestos.
I am acutely aware of the devastating impact that asbestos exposure has on working men and women in this country because I represent an area with several shipyards. In the last few decades, in my district alone, several thousand local shipyard workers have developed asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma from asbestos exposure that occurred between the 1940s and 1970s. Hundreds of these workers have already died, and asbestos deaths and disabilities are continuing due to the long latency period associated with this illness.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03), Ranking Member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, received the 2017 Congressional Voice for Children Award at the National PTA Legislative Conference. The award honors outstanding leadership and commitment to improving education and advancing issues impacting children’s health and well-being. “I am honored to receive the Congressional Voice for Children Award from National PTA,” said Congressman Scott. “PTA members in Virginia and across the nation work every day to ensure that every child has access to a safe learning environment and a great public school. I look forward to our continued partnership to ensure that Congress hears the voices of parents, teachers and communities in support of public education.”