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CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) |
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is a landmark achievement that has enhanced the lives of millions of |
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Americans by increasing both access to and quality of health care; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, Since the law's passage in 2010, more than 21 |
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million people, including 1.7 million Texans, have gained health |
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insurance coverage, dropping the nation's uninsured rate to a |
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record low; while our state continues to lead the country with an |
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uninsured rate 1.75 times higher than the national average, and |
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although more than 4.3 million Texans still lack coverage, we would |
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face an even greater problem without this important program; and |
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WHEREAS, The ACA has benefited Texas families by improving |
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the affordability of medical care; the law has required health |
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insurance plans to include preventive services at no extra cost to |
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consumers and extended mental health and substance use disorder |
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benefits and federal parity protections to an estimated 62 million |
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Americans; it has also helped close the Medicare coverage gap for |
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prescription drugs, saving the program's enrollees in Texas nearly |
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$1 billion; and |
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WHEREAS, The law has prohibited a number of discriminatory |
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practices in the health insurance industry that once precluded |
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countless people from receiving coverage; in addition to banning |
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annual and lifetime limits in policies, the law has barred insurers |
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from denying coverage based on preexisting conditions and from |
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rescinding policies for any reason other than nonpayment or fraud; |
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moreover, insurers are no longer allowed to charge women higher |
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premiums than men for the same coverage; and |
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WHEREAS, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has |
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revolutionized health care for the better, as more people now enjoy |
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the security of health insurance than at any other time in our |
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nation's history; though it is necessary to continue building on |
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the law's success with improvements, it is paramount that we uphold |
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this historic legislation for the millions who currently depend on |
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it and for the generations to come; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas, |
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1st Called Session, hereby urge the United States Congress to |
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preserve the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; and, be it |
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further |
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RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official |
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copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to |
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the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of |
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Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the |
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members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that |
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this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a |
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memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. |