Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke (D-Crown Heights, Flatbush, East Flatbush, Brownsville, Sheepshead Bay) yesterday assailed Congressional Republicans for their bill repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) with their own American Health Care Act.
The bill, which made it through two key House Committeestwo key House committees, would replace the ACA , also known as ObamaCare with a more modest system of tax credits and a rollback of the ACA Medicaid expansion.
The measure has received pucshback from both Congressional conservatives, the AARP (American Association Of Retired People) and health care/hospiatl professionals for raising premiums and weakening Medicare for seniors.
“For the better part of a decade, Republicans have told the American people that their health care plan would bring down costs, offer better care, and protect consumers. Instead, Republicans have offered a bill that makes hardworking Americans pay much more for less,” said Clarke.
“Republicans want to ration healthcare so that millionaire CEOs can get another tax cut. This reverse Robin Hood effect will hurt hardworking Americans. Republicans are stealing from the poor to give to the rich.
“The American people want health care that is affordable and available when they need it, but the Republican repeal bill fails to meet their needs. It would dramatically drive up health care costs for seniors. And repeal would ration care for more than seventy million Americans, including seniors in nursing homes, pregnant women, and children living with disabilities by cutting and capping Medicaid.
“This bill allows insurance companies to charge seniors five times more for their insurance than younger people – pitting the millennials against their parents and grandparents. Additionally, insurance companies will receive untold amounts of windfalls that come through the provisions for lapsed policies of the working class and the poor.
“What’s worse, the Republican repeal bill was drafted in secret, and introduced less than two days before my committee is scheduled to mark it up.
“This action makes a mockery of Speaker Ryan’s claims that ‘we’re not hatching some bill in the backroom and plopping it on the American people’s front door.’ It also stands in stark contrast to the transparent and deliberate process Democrats followed when the Affordable Care Act was introduced and moved through committee.
“Democrats are prepared to fight to improve the Affordable Care Act for all Americans, not just the top one percent. Republicans will own whatever happens to American families as a result of this misguided bill.”
