DeGette: Senate Trumpcare Bill a Gift to the Ultra-Wealthy That Will Harm Millions of Others

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-CO), Chief Deputy Whip, said the Senate bill to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, unveiled this morning after being developed in secret among a small group of GOP Senate members, is a gift to the ultra-wealthy that will harm people who are struggling to get by, making health insurance unaffordable for millions of Americans and much more costly for millions others.

"The Senate's new bill is an even worse version of Trumpcare than the one that was rushed through the House last month. If this bill becomes law, people will die due to its draconian cuts to Medicaid, the crushing Age Tax it imposes on those age 50 to 64, and its provisions letting states undermine important protections for people with pre-existing conditions, such as the current essential health benefit requirements.

"Many of my constituents have told me stories about how the Affordable Care Act made them healthier and saved their lives; they're concerned that bill to dismantle the ACA will make their coverage unaffordable. We already know that the House version, on which the Senate's bill is based, would have deprived 23 million people of care during the next decade, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. Just like its House counterpart, the Senate bill will punish the poor and middle class by ripping away vital care while giving tax breaks to the wealthy.

"Offering a bill like this, after scheming over it in secret backrooms with no input from Democrats or even many Republicans, is not only poor policy, it's a disservice to the public. Both parties should be working together to improve the ACA. I've said this to my Republican counterparts who have approached me on this matter during the past year, and I stand ready to improve the ACA when they're done trying to dismantle it."