I am deeply concerned that the Trump Administration is notle deliberately undermining the Affordable Care act leading the Insurance Plan note choice to exit the market place now either stand Affordable Care act the is to experience stress therehe is now zero doubt about that. To in to keep what is working and Work Together to change it but but that the Insurance Markets for stabilizing. Owest above average of 2 percent the lowest paid youll increase in history. Trump today but because of the effort of the truck administration to undermine the Affordable Care act to face widespread uncertainty to have a notorious but to protect themselves in with the states largest newspaper that premiums in New Hampshire could increase by as much as 44 . President traub says the Affordable Care act says they are exporting exploding but be clearer if obamacare is exploding because that lit the fuse working aggressively to undermine the lot. Wha law. And the l. A. Times d. C. Health insurance with Obamacare Health insurance and they believe trump perhaps the greatest damaget will be done by the administrations refusal to chair the subsidies that held billions of people pay for coverage so to protect themselves one premium la apple agrees to fund the cost sharing subsidy and then the dramatically higher premium level the Administration Says no to cost sharing subsidies. No more broadly those mixed signals cause uncertainty in the Marketplace Health plans are being forced to raise premiums to compensate for the turmoil and it gets worse. Last week the l. A. Times reported that the administrative for medicareic and Medicaid Services shot at the meeting of biggest Insurance Industry executives by threatening to cut off funding and then to repeal the Affordable Care act Washington State insurance commissioner criticize the administrations actions toay play russian roulette with americas Health Insurance coverage and said has a real impact on peoples lives. One Insurance Company executives said those actions that there is the sense of no hands of the wheel letting the bus go down the road depositionsme and other Health Care Professionals live by a time honored pledged to do no harm but to pursue a course to do tremendous harm to millions of americans tried to get Health Coverage for the first time because of the Affordable Care act unless and and Tell Congress repeals the Affordable Care acted is the law of the land in this administration has a responsibility it certainly has does not have the right to take active steps to undermine or seven ties though lot to thread the Insurance Companies with threats of they dont support the threat of obamacare. It is time to consider their approach to Health Care Reform with no our reach to new democrats so instead to filled of pledged to haveions multiple occasions duringd the general Election Campaign and what he is done about Health Insurance we make scheerer everybody had said that they pay less so now this seems to take coverage away from tens of millions of america it estimated the House Republicans bill would take coverage away from 24 in millions of americans in then to propose a budget to cut medicaid by as much as 1. 3 trillion over the nextov decade. People that is for our elderly and Nursing Homes and in New Hampshire to be on the front lines of the heroin epidemic with the treatment for so many people who but levy think about the people that would be hurt by it is it is unconscionable to hear the omb director say there was a certain philosophy wrapped in the of budget to launder measure compassion by the n number of people of those programs. I disagree with that view. Said deliberately taking Health Care Coverage it shows the aisle lack of compassion in this administration isnt about numbers for what these proposals will do whether they have preexisting conditions for Substance Use disorders or whenever the Health Care Needs are but with this proposal they cannot afford it. Millions of americans cannot afford it. Bet there is a better way for word. Is set of tearing down the Affordable Care act taking Health Coverage away we should be building on decades in the achievement of Health Care Reform i want to share extraordinaryulla letter to the editor fromne New Hampshire and she writes i was in good health that was my a mentality for years before the Affordable Care act also known as obamacare. Ss i work for a small nonprofit business with its annual physical with the high premiums and high deductible plan was often a luxury but that was o. K. I felt great why bother with doctors . Because of the Affordable Care act i went for a routine physical during the adm of what was this a lump was discovered in my breast that Breast Cancer was diagnosed. Fast forward to today i just completed my final thought chemotherapy treatment of my prognosis is positive that this couple saved my life. Obamacare saved my life. That physical in june would not have happened had it not been prevented Service Included with all health plans under the ac a. While not perfect it is better than anything i had in the past. Up until this point i have been quiet about my diagnosis because i did when cancer to be the main topic of every conversation that i had but with the republican majority in washington including secretary hhs a. C. A. , promising to repeal the ac a being quiet is no longer an option. Im asking to trust my wellbeing to the hollow promises to be replaced byg something better. E we forgive me if im skeptical this is my life were talking about. Patie dont tell me to be patient dont tell me to wait and see either outlined a plan l or leave my Health Insurance alone itchy signs that with her name carol from new market hampshire we need to listen to her and peoplein like her across america is said of allowing this administration intoe undermine or sabotage to Affordable Care act we need to Work Together democrats and republicans is to strengthen the part of the Affordable Care act working in the real world with Medicaid Expansion the according to multiple recenthe polls this is what the great majority of americans want us to do. The Affordable Care act has had a profoundly positive impact all across america but it needs commonsense repairs and then it dont ended or sabotage it it should b. A. Bipartisan focus i intend to do everything i can to encourage a bipartisan effort i know my colleagues hillsides of the aisle could do this work if they understood how much the American People want to see us do this. With his had positive impact be to give the people coverage based on preexisting conditions. 8q mr. President i yield the floor. And doublea2 comment to the of colleague to New Hampshire i know you made rests a reference to the cbo it tells the whole story of everything you need to know about trump care the secondpl attack by the republicans to replace the Affordable Care act. Terms but what it tells us in the starkest terms is the reason why republicans did not want to wait for that analysis the cbo for the record is a nonpartisan agency wha materialize the great ideas when i know this agency pretty well because with the Affordable Care act we waited and waited sometimes weeks at a time so a bright idea could be analyzed with the cold reality of health care america. And many times they said that idea. If they pass the childcare about three weeks ago what a way for that congressional unusl analysis . They would not wait because they knew what was coming. So this afternoon what the cbo says the republican attempt to repeal the Affordable Care act. s the how about that for a starter. Over the next 10 years 23 million americans willxt lose Health Insurance theld cost of Health Insurancel have 20 percent of the individual market. With the current law that besides the market becomes unstable in the year 2020. D with a cut the federal Medicaid Programs so in my state half of the children born are covered by medicaid. Medic mothers dont get it one f basket care so the babies are healthy and the delivery is paid for by medicaid postnatal care is paid for by medicaid. M that is not the mostte expensive part in my statesi or goes states the most expensive part is for a mother or grey and another in a nursing home. Ome. Twothirds go to those that have no other source of income not to mention in the disabled or what they tellll us of the republican plan will devastate medicare costs united states. What part canby toss overboard . The elderly who have no place to turn . For the disabled to be the health of medicaid and a regular basis . Not to mention the fact the Real Driving Force is a tax cut for the wealthiest people in america this is from the cbo again, 880 billion of tax cuts for this simple big businesses including drug companies. Mr. President will you yield . Those numbers came out why was speaking on the floor because i was talking about the first house bill to repeal the Affordable Care act but what you were telling me the numbers for the bill that they passed is just as bad or worse than the originals. They are equally disastrous listen to the us with the republican repeal plan those with preexisting conditions comprehensive insurance with thoset a comparable if they could purchase it at all and in particular at of pocket spending on Maternity Care and Mental Health and Substance Abuse services. Enrolo use those services. Let me bring this home to your state. Your state has been devastated. Our state has been hurt badly. Your state has been devastated by the opioid crisis. I would like you, if you would, to respond to that by giving us some detail. But what theyre saying is that the republican repeal of Affordable Care act is going to deny coverage in Health Insurance. Ance. Substance abuse treatment for the families whose kids are discovered to be on opioids. And i would yield through i yield to the chair out yielding the floor to the senator of New Hampshire to describe her challenge. In New Hampshire, where we have the second highest percentage of Overdose Deaths in the country, we lose more people in New Hampshire to deaths from overdoses of opioids and fentanyl and heroin than we do to car accidents. And the ultimate percentage of those people, 90 are getting treatment for their surstance abuse disorders through the expansion of medicaid which has been a Bipartisan Program in New Hampshire that has covered about 60,000 people, many of whom are getting treatment for Substance Abuse disorders. What you are telling me from the cbo and that based on the plan that passed the house, that the republicans supported, those people who are getting lifesaving treatments for Mental Health issues and Substance Abuse will be kicked off their plan and not have any other aupgsz forgeting that care. That is what the Congressional Budget Office reports. We have these discussions on the floor and you have been in the middle of them because of New Hampshires experience with opioids and both parties come together and ring their hands and say what are we going to do about the opioidheroin crisis in america and we have come up with some good ideas. Here we have the republican effort cutting the Affordable Care act which cuts our efforts and takes away from families, medicaid coverage, they are using for drug treatment as well as coverage in their health Insurance Plans. If my colleague would yield for one more. On the one hand, last year we passed the 21st century cure act which approperated a billion, 500 million this year and 500 million next tear to address the Opioid Epidemic we are having. In the omnibus bill we got 700 million to help us fight this. On one hand we are putting money in to address it. On the other hand we are taking away the treatments people need by passing a Health Care Bill that is going to throw people off their treatment and give them no other option to address their Substance Abuse disorders. This afternoon we had a press conference and we invited four or five families to come in with their kids. The theme of the press conference was what is going to happen if your child has a preexisting condition . Well, there was amazing little kids there and some heroic moms and dads telling the story about what happens when you discover your little infant has a tumor from neuroblastoma and what happens to that family, what happens to that infant. Thank goodness those kids were all standing there smiling. They fought the good fight, had to continue to fight it, and each is branded as having a preexisting condition. Back in the old days before the Affordable Care act, that meant that family was unable to buy Health Insurance or if they could they could not afford it because the premiums were too high. We passed the Affordable Care act and said enough we will not allow you to discriminate against anyone with a preexisting condition. If you have diabetes or somebody in your family who is a cancer survivor they cant use it against you. Now the Congressional Budget Office tells us what will happen to those people. We are going back to the bad old days to when those families have to stay awake and worry about whether that baby will survive they will stay away worrying about how in the world can they play for their Health Insurance. Is that trumpism at work . I cannot believe the American People voted for that. I cannot believe they are saying to our republican colleagues we really dont care if our Health Insurance covers preexisting conditions. Of course they care. They come back with something called high risk pools. Remember the warnings you had around swimming pools that said no diving . The pool is too shallow . No family with preexisting conditions should dive into those pools because the amount of money provided by the republicans in their Affordable Care act repeal would only cover 14 families with preexisting conditions. 34 are on their own. If you have been in the position in life where your a parent with a sick child and you have no Health Insurance you will never forget it as long as you live. I know i have been there. When i was a law student with a little baby who was sick i had no Health Insurance and i will never forget it as long as i live. Why arent the republicans listening to these families and the struggles they are going to keep their kids alive . Come up with a repeal plan that will make it exceedingly difficult, in some cases impossible to provide quality care to these kids and people with preexisting conditions. That to me is not our responsibility. I go to your conclusion which i think is the right one. Is the Affordable Care act perfect . No. It is someone of the most important and giving bills i have every voted for. But it is far from perfect. Each one of us has list of things we would like to see addressed. The cost of premiums is too high. Lets address that directly and we should. The fact pharmaceutical drugs dont have any regulation or control of pricing is plain wrong. And third, i think every american should have option of a public option plan like medicaid care. A nonforprofit plan based on medicare should be able to every american no matter where you live. Those are the things i would put on the table right away. But to walk away from coverage for 23 million americans and to endanger the cov rmg coverage. We got to get the message out. We have millions of veterans in this country who get their health care through medicaid. We have asked these folks to put their lives on the line for this country. Now we are talking about taking aw away. I was at one of our Community Homes in New Hampshire last week and met with a number of veterans who get their care through the expansion of medicaid and they talked about what it means to be able to get there, go into the that community Mental Health center and work with the Veterans Outreach coordinator who works with veterans trying to make sure they get the help they need because you know if this bill goes forward, ptsd, that affects so many veterans, would be considered a preexisting condition and they would not be able to get Health Insurance going forward. So, this is a bill that is nothing but me mean spirited. If you say all of the efforts are to save money in the bill are so that money can be used to give a huge tax break to the wealthiest among us i dont think that is what americans want. As you say, we need to work with our colleagues and get a good bill that improves the Affordable Care act, fixes what is not working and makes a better. I agree. Discriminating against veterans should hardly be the starting point to reform our health care insurance. I know what the first speech will be from the republican side of the aisle. This affirms that under current law insurance marketplaces are stable. They are stable. That is not what you will hear from the other side of the aisle. The other side of the aisle likes to use the word death spiral. The only death spiral in the Current Health care system is brought on because the republicans had their hand around the threat of that system and are choking it. Their sabotage of the Current Health care system is the reason why there is uncertainty in the market. The Insurance Companies told us this week we dont know where you have going in the future. We have an obligation to shareholders and our workers. The republicans i would say this is no death spiral. This is a selffulfilling prophecy to bring down our Health Care System and shame on those who do it on vulnerable populati populations across america. The Illinois Hospital Association opposes this republican trumpcare bill. And the reason they day is they say it endangers small town hospitals and inner City Hospitals as well. The New HampshireHospital Association also opposes the bill for the same reason. We have hospitals that are at risk if this bill is passed. I am sure in your state, like mine in illinois, there are larger hospitals that treat and for the safety net of hospitals in small towns. These People Living here driving for hospitals. There is Critical Services for trauma and an emergency that exists. According to the Hospital Association they are the first casual casual casualities of trump care. It is estimated 60,000 jobs at hospitals will be lost because of the republican approach. How important are these jobs . In most communities they are the best paying jobs in the community. But men and women who are the doctors, nurses and specialists who provide that basic care in these towns, sure they are compensated better than most but we want to compensate and keep them there. From every perspective whether it is the doctors, the nurses, the pediatricians, Substance Abuse treatment, hospitals and clinics is republican approach to repealing obamacare, repealing the Affordable Care act, is devastating. And the Congressional Budget Office put it in writing today. I might say we should close by saying what is happening in the senate . It is a mystery. There is a bill on the table, lets have an open public hearing, a debate about where we go and lets make a good sound decision that is in the best interest of american families. Not the case at all. Instead the republican leader n senate has chosen 1213 men to sit in a room outside of the view of the public and to craft an alternative to the bill in the house. Nobody has seen it. Nobody wants to talk about it. It is not been scored or debated. While i can tell you this, that is not going to work. At least not going to work if we have it our way. That to me is inconsistent with our public responsibility when it comes to this critical issue. So i thank the senator from New Hampshire for her input on this. There will be more to be said. There will be and if i could just ask one final question because not only is this effort in the senate happening behind closed doors but initially it excluded women. Women are more than 50 of this country. We have particular needs when it comes to health care. The essential Health Care Benefits that are part of the Affordable Care act provide for requirements for Preventive Health for women for mammogram, maternity benefits when you have a baby, and they are talking about writing this legislation without taking into consideration the women in the s senate, the women in this country and what we need to do make sure we have access to health care. That is just unconsciousable. Dont you agree . I agree with that. Originally being a woman was a preexisting condition. And they want to take us back to that. Would this qualify or raise your premiums because you are a woman. That is discrimination. We should not have a similar level of discrimination when it comes to writing any improvement in this Affordable Care act. This is a big enough senate and a big enough place for us to all gather around the table and make sure we do this in the best interest of all americans regardless of gender, background, and where you live. That is the way you should approach something as serious for an item that accounts for 1 6 in the economy. This is life and death for families in illinois, New Hampshire and across the united states. The congressional budget said it all today. It is time to put trump 2. 0 to rest and try to come up with something that is befitting a great nation. I yield the floor. President trump visited the vatican arriving in vatican city today with wife, melania trump, daughter ivanka trump and her husband. He presented the pope with a first set of Martin Luther king, jr work and an engraved stone. Pope francis gave the president a medal featuring an olive branch and gave mr. Trump a copy of his 2016 letter on the environment and climate change. Following the vatican visit, President Trump traveled to brussels and will have lunch with the newly elected president macron on thursday and meet with nato and european officials. We will bring you President Trumps meeting next. And remarks from secretary of state tillerson. After that, treasury secretary benson testifies about the president. Law enforcement officials testify about the ms13 street gang. Cspan, Washington Junior is live every day. Coming up thursday, denny heck will discuss the latest in the investigation of possible russian interference in the u. S. Election. And francis roony is with us to talk about President Trumps meeting with european officials and members of nato and g7 countries. Be sure to watch washington journal live at 7 30. Here is President Trumps meeting with pope francis at the vatican. The president was accompanied by members of the swiss guard who