HONORING THE LARGEST EXPANSION IN VETERANS' HEALTHCARE BENEFITS

HONORING THE LARGEST EXPANSION IN VETERANS' HEALTHCARE BENEFITS

Congressional Record, Volume 171 Issue 6 (Monday, January 13, 2025) [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 6 (Monday, January 13, 2025)] [House] [Pages H95-H96] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] HONORING THE LARGEST EXPANSION IN VETERANS' HEALTHCARE BENEFITS The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Courtney) for 5 minutes. Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, today, January 13 in Washington, we are in a little bit of a hiatus waiting for a new administration and a new Congress to begin the process of bringing forward new policy proposals and a budget. In the meantime, in the last 13 days, we have seen, I think, groundbreaking, exciting developments for the people of this country as a result of legislation that was passed in 2022 and 2023 and implemented by the Biden administration. The first is the PACT Act. In 2022, after 5 years of hard-fought advocacy by veterans' groups all across the country, this measure opened the door for veterans of the Vietnam war era and also the Middle East era, who suffered horrible cancers, heart disease, and life- threatening conditions, to make sure that they could connect to the VA healthcare system to get the help they need. Basically, what it did in 2022 was allow veterans who served in those parts of the world in those conflicts who suffered from 23 different illnesses--we are talking about cancers, heart disease, and life- threatening illnesses--to be able to avoid the gymnastics of having to prove to the VA where they were on such and such a date and how they were exposed to a burn pit or to Agent Orange. As a result of that, we have seen over 1.4 million veterans nationwide have their PACT Act claims approved and over 384,000 Vietnam, Gulf war, and post-9/11 veterans get newly enrolled in the healthcare system. Six million toxic exposure tests were done as a result of this law. Last week, on January 8, Secretary McDonough of the VA announced that another five illnesses are going to be added to the presumptive eligibility structure of the PACT Act claim system. Again, we are talking about very serious illnesses in terms of additional cancers and myelomas which today don't get the benefit of that fast-track process of getting their claims approved and getting the help that they need. This is making a big difference in my district, the Second Congressional District of Connecticut, which is home to the oldest submarine base in our Nation's history, with about 9,000 sailors and many retirees serving in the area there. Over 4,025 veterans in the district have filed PACT Act claims. That is more than double the rest of the congressional districts in the State of Connecticut. This has made a meaningful difference in the lives of people who wore the uniform of this country and, because of their service, incurred service-connected injuries that for many years had long been denied health coverage. I congratulate Secretary McDonough as he leaves his post for the swift implementation of the 2022 law. Cap on Out-of-Pocket Copayments in Medicare Part D Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, on January 1, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that a $2,000 out-of-pocket cap is going to be initiated for seniors on the Medicare part D program. Fifty-three million seniors across the country use part D and because of the copayment structure, many of them pay in excess of $2,000 out of pocket. Starting on January 1, because of the Inflation Reduction Act and the prescription drug reforms that took place as a result of that, there will be a hard cap that no one will have to pay more than $2,000 during a calendar year for prescription drug coverage for people who suffer from chronic illnesses, such as MS and other cancers. This is a life-changing transformation in terms of both their healthcare coverage and delivery but also their financial circumstance, which for many years, despite part D being enacted back in 2002, they were incurring costs far in excess of $2,000. The numbers are in the hundreds of thousands and possibly millions of people who are going to benefit because of that new cap. Mr. Speaker, I congratulate Secretary Becerra for the swift implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act, which unfortunately was a very tough [[Page H96]] vote that took place in 2023, but it is paying off in real-life benefits for 53 million elderly and people on disability who rely on the Medicare system to get their lifesaving medication and drugs. This is real change that means something in real life for people. Hopefully, with this new Congress, we are going to follow up with this. We can extend that prescription drug benefit by passing the Lowering Drug Costs for American Families Act, which would extend these Medicare cost controls for prescription drugs to working-age families, to people's employment-based plans. Why not? Why should they have to pay more than their fellow Americans for healthcare and people all across the globe? Let's pass that law. Let's help the Americans in this country in this next Congress. ____________________