ms. nordman. ms. nordman: chairman collins, ranking member mccaskill, distinguished members, thank you for inviting me to testify. my name is susan nordman. i'm the owner of a small manufacturing company and maker of handbags. i grew up in rural maine in the 1960's in an agricultural community. i left home for college and employment. i settled in the new york city area and built a life with a family and several successful businesses. it has always been my intention to return home to maine. in 2006, my husband and i headed north, planning to retire. we settled outside of portland. in 2012, a business broker sent me a listing on a small company in northern maine. the company was intriguing but the location was not. too far north, too remote, too rural. the idea was dropped until a year later, when i saw a display of handbags in a gallery. the bright colors and quirky shapes demanded further investigation. the facility was in an old barn in the middle of nowhere. as soon as i walked in, i was hooked. the

ms. nordman: yes. sen. mccaskill: if they made a little bit more, their health insurance would go dramatically down, because they would be entitled to subsidies under the act. because your state, like missouri, has refused the federal dollars that were identified, that would make a big difference -- ms. nordman: and it would make a big difference. sen. mccaskill: for these older workers, who are working hard. it is not as if they are sitting at home. they are not the typical vision people have of a medicaid recipient. these are people who are working and providing great value to your company. ms. nordman: yes, they are. sen. mccaskill: and what about pre-existing conditions? i noticed in your testimony that two of your workers had cancer. ms. nordman: two of my workers have had cancer, and it is an issue for them. sen. mccaskill: so if we didn't have the ability to not discriminate against pre-existing conditions, that would be even more difficult for them in terms of their ability to get insurance? ms. nor

ms. nordman: yes. sen. mccaskill: if they made a little bit more, their health insurance would go dramatically down, because they would be entitled to subsidies under the act. because your state, like missouri, has refused the federal dollars that were identified, that would make a big difference -- ms. nordman: and it would make a big difference. sen. mccaskill: for these older workers, who are working hard. it is not as if they are sitting at home. they are not the typical vision people have of a medicaid recipient. these are people who are working and providing great value to your company. ms. nordman: yes, they are. sen. mccaskill: and what about pre-existing conditions? i noticed in your testimony that two of your workers had cancer. ms. nordman: two of my workers have had cancer, and it is an issue for them. sen. mccaskill: so if we didn't have the ability to not discriminate against pre-existing conditions, that would be even more difficult for them in terms of their ability to get insurance? ms. nor