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Delaney Bashes GOP’s vote to repeal Affordable Care Act

May 4th, 2017 by WCBC Radio

Today the House of Representatives passed the American Health Care Act, Republican legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Congressman John K. Delaney (MD-6) voted against the legislation.

“This legislation is illogical, immoral and wrong for the country,” said Congressman Delaney. “The American Health Care Act is a reckless, ideologically-motivated bill that will increase pain and suffering across the country so that political actors can claim a ‘win.’ Millions of the most vulnerable among us are now at risk of losing their health care coverage so that tax cuts can be given to the most fortunate. The American people have made it clear they don’t want this bill, they don’t like this bill and they’re flat-out afraid of the consequences this bill will bring. We must continue to speak out against this disastrous legislation and do everything we can to make sure it does not become law.”

The vote took place less than 20 hours after the final text of the legislation was released to the public. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the underlying legislation – which was amended in the last week – would mean that the number of uninsured Americans would increase by 14 million people next year and increase by 24 million over the next decade. The American Health Care Act cuts Medicaid funding and reduces provisions that help low-income and middle-class families afford insurance. These cuts are used to pay for tax cuts for the most fortunate. 

The latest version of the legislation allows states to opt-out of protections for Americans with pre-existing conditions and to opt-out of Essential Health Benefits protections, meaning that insurance plans would no longer have to include basic provisions such as ambulance services, emergency room visits, prescription drugs and pediatric and maternity care. This means that Americans living in states that opt-out – even those on employer-provided plans – would be at risk of seeing the quality of their coverage decrease.  According to reports today, rape, postpartum depression, Cesarean sections and surviving domestic violence could be considered pre-existing conditions under the American Health Care Act, which also defunds Planned Parenthood. 

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