Washington, DC - On Saturday, the Affordable Health Care for America Act was passed by the House of Representatives, an important step towards ensuring every young American has access to quality, affordable, stable and secure health care coverage. This legislation will finally rein in the insurance companies' worst practices while extending coverage to 36 million Americans and cutting the deficit by $104 billion in the next ten years. The bill was supported by a wide range of groups including doctors, patients, seniors, consumers and Americans across the country. All but one Republican voted against the bill.

"Last November, college students and young Americans voted for change, and on Saturday that’s what we got. Nearly one hundred years ago President Teddy Roosevelt called for health care reform, and now we have come closer than ever to making it a reality."

"The Affordable Health Care for America Act will provide long overdue reforms to the insurance industry and important protections for college students. It will also provide more quality, affordable choices while bringing down the sky-high costs for families and businesses and lowering the national deficit. Because of this act young Americans will be able to stay on their parent’s plan until their 27th birthday. Insurance companies will no longer be able to deny coverage because of pre-existing conditions or cancel coverage because of illnesses."

"I thank President Obama and Congressional Democrats for their strong leadership on health insurance reform. While this isn’t the end of the process, it's a critical step towards finally passing comprehensive health insurance reform."

College Democrats of America (CDA) is the official college outreach arm of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). CDA has been a strong advocate for President Obama's guiding principles of health insurance reform. The group has organized two national days of action this fall in support of reform and will continue their advocacy efforts as the Senate takes up health reform legislation.