Speech #1140053171

And in the case of health care and access to health care. it is not simply out of a sense of moral altruism. although that is part of it. Rather. it is out of the reality that treating our brothers and sisters and neighbors as we want to be treated when it comes to health care and access to health care and access to health insurance is in our own selfinterest as well. That is why I am introducing the Exchange Inclusion for a Healthy America Act of 2015. a bill to give complete access to the Affordable Care Act regardless of their immigration status. The Exchange Inclusion for a Healthy America will extend healthcare insurance access to millions of our neighbors and family members who live here. work here. raise families here. and will probably live here for the rest of their lives. but who lack legal immigration status. It gives them access to healthcare exchanges in ObamaCare under the ordinary rules of residency in the States in which they live and makes them eligible for subsidies if and when they file taxes. just like the rest of us. It also subjects them to the individual mandate that requires individuals to have health insurance. The goal is to make integration and inclusion real for millions of families that are locked out under current law. Now. if I remember correctly. the President was standing right here in 2009 talking about his healthcare reform proposal would exclude undocumented immigrants and one of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle interrupted him by shouting. "You lie" to the President of the United States of America. who. we should all note. was reelected comfortably in 2012. I do not expect that Member of Congress to join me as a cosponsor. But. in fact. as we all know. he was dead wrong about the Affordable Care Act. In addition to death panels and a number of other fictions. the Republicans were wrong that undocumented immigrants were included in ObamaCare. They just werent. I am and have always been an advocate for the single payer approach to universal health coverage. and I fought to include all of the people who live in this country in the Affordable Care Act. but they were written out. As it stands right now. undocumented immigrants are not subject to the individual mandate and cannot buy into the health insurance exchanges. even if they use their own money. My legislation will change that. It says that we stand for inclusion.