Congresswoman Johnson Votes Against Legislation That Would Undermine Affordable Care Act

Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson voted against the partisan bill H.R. 3350, “Keep Your Health Plan Act.” The proposal marks the 46th time House Republicans have moved to undermine the Affordable Care Act and put insurance companies back in charge of Americans’ health care.  Congresswoman Johnson had the following remarks regarding her reasoning for voting against this harmful bill:

“This legislation is not only misleading, it also does not mandate that insurance companies keep beneficiaries in their policies, so they can still be kicked off their insurance at any time. This bill was solely introduced to undermine the Affordable Care Act and allows health insurers to continue to sell low quality plans through 2014.

H.R. 3350 reverses several positive policies enacted by the Affordable Care Act. The bill would allow insurance companies to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions, restore an annual cap on how much care a beneficiary can receive, and forces women to pay more than men for exactly the same coverage.

We cannot allow our citizens to become vulnerable by passing laws that will ultimately hurt them. We can, however, support targeted fixes to the Affordable Care Act when problems such as insurance terminations arise.”

Congresswoman Johnson Announces $5.6 Million Grant For Community Health Centers

Congresswoman Eddie Bernice announced $5,600,000 million in grant awards to community health centers in Texas to expand access to health care, thanks to the Affordable Care Act.  These funds will allow the centers to serve 46,000 additional patients in Texas.  Nationwide, 236 health center programs will receive approximately $150 million in grant awards to serve more than 1.25 million additional patients.

“Community health centers serve a vital role in ensuring access to comprehensive, quality, primary health care services to many of our vulnerable residents,” Congresswoman Johnson said. “Texas has more uninsured residents than any other state in America. With these new funds, community health centers will provide even more individuals and families in our state with access to high-quality affordable health care.”

Through the Affordable Care Act’s commitment to expand access to high quality health care for all Americans, these grants will be used by the community health centers to support establishment of new full-time service delivery sites. Today, nationwide approximately 1,200 health centers operate more than 9,000 service delivery sites that provide care to over 21 million patients in every state.  Since the beginning of 2009, health centers have added 4 million patients and more than 35,000 new full-time positions.