The House Ways & Means Committee advanced seven healthcare bills on Thursday after defeating amendments from Democrats on immigration and enshrining protections for pre-existing conditions.
The bills now head to the full House and were agreed to largely along party lines. Democrats sought to add multiple amendments that chided the Trump administration for the border crisis and not defending Obamacare in court. The committee also advanced another four healthcare bills on Wednesday to the full House.
During debate over a bill to expand the contribution limit of HSAs, Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., issued an amendment that focused on unaccompanied minors at the border. Her amendment would have allowed individuals to temporarily designate an unaccompanied child or child being held in family detention as a dependent to pay their healthcare needs through an HSA.
The amendment ignited a heated debate over the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy in May of prosecuting all immigrants that cross the border illegally.
The policy led to parents being separated from their children as they cannot be detained with a parent in custody.
Trump eventually signed an executive order preventing family separations after intense public pressure. The Trump administration has yet to fully reunite the roughly 3,000 children who were separated from their parents under the policy.
Chu said that the policy sparked a “humanitarian crisis” at the border.
“Instead of providing compassionate care for these individuals, our country has separated them from their families, caged them like animals and classified them as criminals for trying to escape drug trafficking, rape and abuse,” said Chu.
Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., said that he didn’t see the necessity for the amendment since charities are working with the Trump administration to “make sure that these children get the medical attention that they need.”
Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Ill., said that Democrats had the chance to address immigration when they had control of Washington back in 2009 when President Barack Obama was in office and Democrats controlled the House and Senate.
The committee defeated Chu’s amendment by a 22-16 vote.
Another amendment that ignited a fierce debate was from Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, on protections for pre-existing conditions. Doggett’s amendment was also to the bill that raises contributions for HSAs, a bill sponsored by Rep. Erik Paulson, R-Minn.
“All that my amendment does is make it very clear that the plans purchased through this expansion will not take away in the fine print what they promise in the bold print: that they protect Americans with pre-existing conditions,” Doggett said.
He said the amendment is needed because pre-existing condition protections are under attack by the Trump administration. He noted that the administration declined to defend Obamacare in court against a lawsuit from Texas and 18 other states that would gut the law’s pre-existing condition protections.
Republicans charged that the amendment was not related to Paulson’s bill and Democrats were fearmongering.
“It is preying on fear,” said Rep. Tom Rice, R-S.C. “If we don’t adopt this amendment then people’s coverage for pre-existing conditions will go away and 30 million Americans will lose health insurance coverage. That is nonsense.”
Democrats also chastised a bill from Roskam that would let Obamacare customers buy a catastrophic care plan. Currently, people who are 30 years or older cannot buy such a plan, which still requires an insurer to cover essential health benefits but has an extremely high deductible.
Democrats said that the bill, which passed the committee by a 23-16 vote, would take away premium tax credits for plans that cover women’s health, including abortion services.
“In Washington state, all health plans are required to cover comprehensive women’s health services, including abortion,” said Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash. “Because of the way this bill is written, no one in my state would be eligible for premium tax credits.”
Ways & Means Chairman Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said that the bill retains Obamacare’s benefits, but just expands choice for Americans.
“This bill doesn’t weaken or change the benefits required by Obamacare,” he said.
