Sestak Statement on Passage of Health Insurance Reform

By SESTAK FOR SENATE

MEDIA, PA – Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, Congressman Joe Sestak, who has been fighting for health care reform since he entered Congress as a member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) sub-committee, issued the following statement in honor of tonight’s passage of the historic Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962):

“Today, I proudly voted to pass the Affordable Health Care for America Act (AHCAA). This legislation will ensure access to affordable, quality health care for all Americans — while making health insurance more affordable for individuals and small businesses that currently have it — by establishing a fair, competitive marketplace for health insurance. It no longer allows insurance companies to make life and death decisions in who gets what health coverage. It provides these benefits while reducing the federal deficit by $109 billion over the next ten years and extending the solvency of the Medicare program.

“As a 31 year Navy Veteran, I went to Congress to ensure that everyone has the same quality health care treatment as my daughter had just a few years ago under the government’s TRICARE program when she was diagnosed with a brain tumor at age 4. This is why I requested to sit on two health sub-committees, why I worked to pass health insurance reform out of the Education and Labor Committee, why I have held numerous town halls and summits over the past three years to listen and to explain the benefits of this effort, including the public option, and why I am honored to have had the opportunity to vote for the Affordable Health Care for America Act. Today, we are a significant step closer to achieving this critical goal.”

“More than 40 million American citizens currently lack insurance, and 14,000 more individuals are added to that tally every day. Every year, the uninsured and the underinsured cost our economy as much as $160 billion in lost productivity and without action, health care costs will consume fully 1/3 of our economic output by 2040. This is one of the rare instances where the morally right course of action is also an economic necessity.”

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