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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, In March of 2010, the United States Congress enacted |
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the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to address the |
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nation's urgent health care crisis; and |
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WHEREAS, Before passage of the Affordable Care Act, the $2.5 |
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trillion health care industry accounted for about 17 percent of |
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U.S. gross domestic product but left tens of millions of Americans |
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uninsured; many who were excluded from insurance coverage |
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eventually consumed health care services for which others paid, |
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since our law and culture do not permit hospitals to turn away |
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people in need of emergency treatment; each year, some $73 billion |
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in costs for uninsured patients was shifted to others, raising the |
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average family's annual insurance premium by about $1,000 and |
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increasing the burden on taxpayers by at least $30 billion; and |
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WHEREAS, After extensive study, Congress passed the |
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Affordable Care Act, and on March 23, 2010, President Obama signed |
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it into law; the ACA builds on the existing nationwide system of |
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employer-based health insurance and expands Medicaid eligibility |
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to those with incomes below 1-1/3 times the federal poverty level, |
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among other measures; the act is expected to extend care to more |
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than 30 million previously uninsured Americans; and |
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WHEREAS, Opponents almost immediately began working to undo |
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the law in Congress or the courts; in 2011, the Supreme Court agreed |
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to hear a challenge to the Affordable Care Act, centering on the |
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question of whether Congress has the constitutional power to |
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require people to purchase health insurance or face a penalty |
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through the so-called "individual mandate"; the court's landmark |
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decision of June 28, 2012, upheld the law, ruling that the financial |
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penalty might reasonably be characterized as a tax and that such a |
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tax is permitted under the constitution; and |
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WHEREAS, The Supreme Court's ruling on the Patient Protection |
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and Affordable Care Act cleared the way for the United States to |
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proceed with implementing the law, and millions of Americans now |
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look forward to gaining health care coverage; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas |
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Legislature hereby recognize that the Patient Protection and |
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Affordable Care Act was enacted by the United States Congress and |
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signed by the president of the United States, and it is now the law |
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of the land, as per the historic Supreme Court decision of June 28, |
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2012. |