Today, for the 31st time, Republicans attempted to repeal health care reform.
Although the vote passed in the House, it won’t pass in the Senate. The vote demonstrates once again that Republicans in Congress care more about partisan political games than solving problems for the middle class.
Republicans are attempting to repeal a law that the Supreme Court has upheld as constitutional and that already provides benefits and consumer protections to over 100 million people.
Repealing the ACA would unequivocally hurt Washingtonians, many of whom already rely on the law for benefits. Repealing the law would:
- Take away health insurance from 62,000 young adults in WA. who are now covered under the law’s provision that allows young adults to remain on a parent’s policy until age 26.
- Increase costs for seniors in Medicare by taking away prescription drug rebates that have already benefited 62,660 Washington seniors and by forcing 653,723 more seniors who have already gotten free preventive care in Medicare to pay for their cancer screenings and annual exams.
- Rob 7,681 state consumers of rebates totaling $594,031 that insurance companies will pay for the first time this year for failing to comply with the 80/20 rule. That Obamacare rule requires insurance companies to spend at least 80% of our premium dollars on actual medical care instead of overhead and profit.
- Give back to the insurance companies the power to: discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions, impose arbitrary caps and limits on coverage, deny claims for any reason
“Seriously?” asked Jill Reese, Co-Director of Washington CAN! “During the past three years Republicans have failed to take away health care 31 times and have failed to pass the President’s jobs bill even once. I’m glad I have health insurance because this is making me ill.”
Our state and country need to keep moving forward with health care reform so that we can move on to solving other problems – like jobs and the economy.
