WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Congressman Brian Mast (FL-18) released the following statement:

“The Affordable Care Act has failed its promises to lower costs, to let people keep their doctor and to let people keep their plans. As a result, Martin and St. Lucie counties have only one insurer on the individual exchange. Premiums and deductibles have become beyond unaffordable for people throughout our community, and I’ve heard from countless families just like Debbie’s from Jensen Beach who saw their premiums double and their deductible balloon to more than $12,000 under the Affordable Care Act.

“The American Health Care Act delivers relief for families by ensuring that you get to choose your coverage and the federal government can’t tax you based on what you think is best for your family. The bill returns control of health care from Washington back to you and restores access to quality, affordable options that are tailored to your individual needs. The bill does all this while also increasing Medicaid funding for Florida by $400 to $500 million dollars that will go to help the most at-risk people in our community get potentially life-saving coverage and treatment.

“Like millions of Americans, I have a pre-existing condition. As a result of my time in the military, I lost both of my legs and sustained other internal injuries that continue to impact my health care to this day. I care about this issue. I believe it is my responsibility to be the staunchest advocate for people out there that also have pre-existing conditions, and I will be. This bill mandates that people cannot be denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions and allocates almost $140 billion in additional funding that will subsidize coverage for people with pre-existing conditions to ensure their costs are low, while driving down costs for everybody else as well. Those claiming otherwise are the same people who said ‘if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor’ and they’re putting partisan politics ahead of the people in our community.”

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