Please go to americaspeaksout. Or trumpcare. This is an ongoing conversation that we want to have, not just today. We know that there are other Critical Issues that have come up in the last 24 hours but we feel that its so important that we remain focused as well on one of the most important issues to all of us as americans and our families. Which is the ability to see a doctor, to take our child to the doctor and have afford medical care when we need it. Your voices are needed now more than ever. Because last week, republicans passed a bill, as we know, trumpcare that is a triple whammy for families. In my state of michigan and across the country. Higher costs, Less Health Care, all to pay for tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires. Unless youre vn Insurance Company executive or a very wealthy person, trumpcare is a very bad deal for you. 24 Million People will lose insurance. Medicaid will be cut by 880 billion to pay for the tax cuts for the very wealthy, leaving millions of senior in Nursing Homes, children, people with disabilities and work families with Less Health Care or no coverage at all. Seniors get hit with a huge tax, paying five times more for health care than younger people. Employer coverage is at risk for tens of millions of americans, and no no preexisting conditions are not really covered. We as democrats know that we need to Work Together to continue to make Health Care Better and lower out of pocket costs for americans, including Prescription Drug costs. But thats not what the republican majority is doing. And to make it worse, the Trump Administration is working overtime to administrative liver unravel our Health Care System. They are eliminating the payment structure for Insurance Companies that guarantees preexisting expe preexisting conditions and other are covered. No longer doing strong outreach so younger and healthier people are part of the insurance pool in order to bring the cost down. The new secretary of health and Human Services has cut enrollment time to sign up for Health Insurance in half. Why . So Insurance Companies will stop participating in the marketplace, and the republicans can then say, look, its a mess. People cannot get affordable insurance. Obamacare is failing. We know that health care is personal to all of us and our families. Thats why its so important your voice is heard today and we continue to hear your voices. Unfortunately, republicans have no hearings, no public discussion. They didnt wait for the analysis by the Budget Office of the cost and impact on people. Thats now how democracy is supposed to work. And thats why we are so grateful you have traveled here today to share your stories with us. Thank you and i would now turn to the ranking member, our leader on the finance committee. Thank you very much for the terrific work youre doing here. Im happy to be here with my partner, senator murray. The Health Committee and finance committee share responsibility. Good to be with all of you. One of the first rules in the senate is friends must not filibuster friends. So im going to be real short and just make a couple of points. The first is the reason its so important to have all of you here is that political change isnt top down. It doesnt start in government buildings and trickles down to the grassroots. Its not trickle down, its bottom up. So as all of you terrific organizations, go out and mobilize and go to Community Meetings and go to marches and rally for the agenda were discussing today its going the make a huge difference. People are really paying attention. I will touch on that. I want to come back to the point that senator stabenow as made and that is the hundreds of billions of dollars in medicaid cuttance the hundreds of billions of dollars in terms of tax breaks for the fortunate few for the wealthy are really two sides of the same poisonous coin. You cut medicaid that dramatically, people are going to suffer and i will tell you this idea of giving thousands and thousands of dollars of tax relief annually to the most fortunate and the most wealthy defies common sense and it doesnt pass the smell test when it comes to fairness. Thats number one. Number two is youre hearing talk about how maybe the Senate Republicans will rewrite the bill. There is no evidence as of this afternoon that they are moving away from this basic frame of hundreds of billions of dollars worth of tax cuts and tax breaks for the fortunate and hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts in medicaid. The last point that i would like to mention is that when i was home, and a described this as a tsunami of sufferings, a plague that is going to produce debt and anguish for thousands of people in my home state, we went generation by generation. It would be very helpful if all of you might consider that. The youngsters on special needs, no one knows more about this than senator hassan. We have 40 of the School Districts getting help. Medicaid for those youngsters. That is an area where the medicaid cuts will hurt. If youre 17 or 18 and you have a brush with cancer and are cures but these folks are able to redefine preexisting conditions. Those High School Students may carry that cancer condition like a Scarlet Letter through their whole life. Then i went on and talked about workers because the far right is trying to say to the workers you guys are home free. The house is going to lift the cap on outofpocket costs that people could pay and what this will mean is that the cap for example that limits what you could be charge for cancer will be busted and you get a cancer condition youll bust that cap in a hurry. Then theres the age tax for people who are 50 to 64 and then finally, the indignity with respect to Nursing Homes because medicaid pays for two out of three of the nursing home beds in america. This is pain and suffering that spans the generations. So im really glad that youre here. Senator murray, senator stabenow, and i, between us, are on the committees that will deal with it. Were lucky to have our colleagues with us. Chair stabenow, senator murray, thank you for all of our cooperation. I look forward to hearing from our colleagues. Thank you so much. Senator patty murray who is our ranking democrat and the leader on the health, education, labor, and pensions committee. Thank you for your leadership in putting this together today. Im grateful to all of our witnesses today, especially those of you who are sharing your personal stories. Its so important your voices are heard. Im hearing from people like you whose lives will be at risk. As a result of these harmful policies that republicans are pushing under trumpcare and one thing i hear especially often is worry about people who would withstand the skyrocketing premiums and higher outofpocket costs that would result if trumpcare would pass congression. Trumpcare would end the guarantee of the essential Health Benefits and decrease the availability of tax credits. What that means is that families that are at risk of losing access to Maternity Care or Mental Health or Substance AbuseDisorder Services and Prescription Drugs would really be in trouble. Trumpcare would increase premiums by as much as 20 . Average costs will go up on middle class as well as lower income enrollees and trumpcare would be especially devastating for Older Americans by allowing plans to charge higher premiums effectively raising what is known as the age tax. What is clear is that trumpcare is not about helping patients or families. It is about President Trump getting his way and delivering massive tax cuts for Insurance Companies and the very wealthy. That might be a great way to score political points with their base but it is not good for patients and it is not good for families. My hope is that todays hearing will help bring more discussions around that will allow Senate Republicans to get them the message that they should once and for all drop their damaging, politically motivated effort to undermine our Health Care System in ways that raise costs for families. And i hope instead they will work with us to continue fixing our Health Care System so that it works for patients and families. And im confident that millions of people who have been speaking up and making themselves heard will continue to the so and are prepared to hold republicans account fastball they choose to stay on a partisan harmful route. I think all of my colleagues who are coming, and are here now. This is one of the most important things to families that we should be talking about. Thank you, so much, senator murray. And we are grateful for all of our colleagues who have joined us. We stand united in our concern and our determination to make sure that people in this country, that we all have the health care that we need that we can afford and are working together to make things better, not take health care away. Were now pleased to hear from our witnesses. And i will introduce everyone and then well start with mrs. Johnson. Cindy johnson is from bloomington, indiana. Cindy will share her familys story of fighting for health care for her daughter. And we are very grateful you are here. Gina walkington, from wisconsin. She will share her story with Preventative Health and family planning. Excuse me, planned parenthood. Carol hardaway. I think we have two additional senators r, i know they want to be here and both are champions for health care. So in their absence i will introduce carroll she will tell us her story about gaining Health Care Coverage as a result of Medicaid Expansion and what it has meant to her. And michael dunkley. I will turn to senator kaine for this one. Thanks mr. Dunkley for being with us. Just quickly about michael. Michael has a very powerful story. He shared it with a because i put a story on my Senate Website and i asked people to share what would happen to them if the aca were repealed as the republicans in the house essentially did and as we fear the Senate Republicans are trying to do as well. He will tell you a story. Its a powerful one. He is a fulltime caregiver for his wife who has m. S. And at age 64, he was diagnosed with cancer. Dealing with both being a health care caregiver for a wife with a serious physical condition and dealing with a cancer diagnosis, you know, thats more than anybody should have to bear. But having to bear with it in a system that has a humane Health Care System versus one that has no Health Care Safety net is dramatically different. Well hear from mr. Dunkley about that story. Thank you very, very much. Next we have teresa miller, the pennsylvania insurance commissioner. Commissioner miller will speak about the Health Care Markets in pennsylvania and how trumpcare will affect her state. I indicated earlier to you that senator casey was singing your praises and is so grateful for your being here today. And then finally, rod nelson. Rod is president and ceo of mackinow health in michigan. Congratulations on your recognition as world hospital leader of the year. We are privileged to have you with us today. Rod is here to talk about the challenges for rural families in accessing quality Affordable Care. Lets start with mrs. Johnson. Thank you so much. Honorable members of congress it is my great privilege to be with you this afternoon. I want to thank senator stabenow for this invitation to share my familys story today. I come from a background of generational poverty in southern indiana. My parents were among the working poor and relied on food stamps to make ends meet. We couldnt afford Health Insurance so it was a good thing i was a Pretty Healthy kid. I worked diligently and became the first person in my family to go to college. I worked as a math teacher for a number of years. Later when i wanted to start a family and discovered i would have a baby girl with down syndrome my life changed dramatically. It became very clear after her birth that to coordinate her medical care i would have to be a stay at home mom. We went from a twoincome family with no medical expenses to a singleincome family with massive medical expenses. I remember opening an envelope from the hospital with a bill for 64,000. And that was just to rent the equipment in the hospi f for her surgery the month before. I began to realize this was our new reality, because more bills would soon be showing up. It felt like the hardearned middleclass lifestyle that worked so hard to attain was slipping away. Over the next several years, the bills added up. Besides deductibles and co pays there were many expenses that insurance just didnt cover. Medical equipment, hightier medications, therapies, specialized feeding supplies and more. Testing led to testing and no answers. Our outofpocket costs are spiraling with no end insight and my daughters condition was deteriorating. We took out a home equity line of credit and while my lifetime cap was fast approaching. Then came the Affordable Care act and i gained peace of mind knowing that lifetime cap had been eliminated. After eight years on a waiting list, a daughter became eligible for medicaid disability. That covered much of what private insurance did not. That has meant a much brighter financial future for my family. I have reentered the workforce and have made progress paying down our medical debt and even saving for college for my other two children. Im grateful for the protections of the aca. Thats an understatement. And the safety net it helps families around the country. I know and love in their stories i share with my consent. For my son am a his fifth grade classmate he has epilepsy and lives in the same state as senator wrong. For my former colleague, who has a daughter who requires a tra tracheotomy. For my friend in indiana whose quadruplets sons, two of whom are on the autism spectrum and one of whom has Cerebral Palsy has been able to seek employment and live more independently in their community. Thanks to the medicaid waiver. For a friend in louisiana whom i only know through facebook has many medical struggles struggles. His son has a mental condition due to a rare disease he contracted at three months of age. For my friend here who has my back. The mother of this beautiful 11yearold who was born blind and has Cerebral Palsy and microcephaly. Right here in virginia and for my own precious daughter with down syndrome who had Successful Surgery last year and for the First Time Ever is attending school fulltime and speaks with pure joy about the friends she is making there. As a parent, nothing else matters when your child is sick. Your world shrinks and Everything Else just falls away. I would have sold my house, my car, literally done anything to make sure that my daughter had access to the care she needed. No parent should ever have to have that worry and wonder if theyre going to have the lifesaving provisions that their child needs. To avoid bankruptcy. The Affordable Care act meant the difference between life and death for my daughter and Financial Stability for my family. It has given us a chance to seek a financially secure life that we would have been hard to achieve otherwise. Senators, i urge you to do whatever necessary to preserve the provisions of the aca including the elimination of lifetime caps, protections for those with preexisting conditions and coverage for essential Health Benefits. I urge you to reject anything to funding including the per capita models would reduce access for people with disabilities, low income households, seniors, and expecting morris and expecting mothers and others. I ask you to encourage health care for americans because we do everything we can to keep it accessible and comprehensive. The stakes are just simply too high. Thank you, senators, for your time and consideration. Thank you. We apologize for the microphone going on and off. Im not sure what thats about. Thank you so much for your testimony. Thank you for inviting me to be here today i am honored to share my story with all of you. My name is Gina Walkington and i live in bristol, wisconsin and im a mother to three rambunctious, energetic, amazing boys. I am here today because i know that if i did not have access to planned parenthood in my 20s, i wouldnt be a mother today. In 2006 when i was 20, my best friend and i made appointments to get exams at planned parenthood. We went for three reasons. At 20 i was uninsured. Although i was insured through my parents the topic of sexual and Reproductive Health was not something that wa