07.18.2017 / Press Release

McConnell Pulls Disastrous Health Care Bill and Goes for a More Damaging and Discredited Repeal-only Proposal

Washington, D.C. – Following is the statement of Frederick Isasi, executive director of Families USA, on Senate Leader Mitch McConnell’s decision to put before the Senate a bill to repeal most of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) without any replacement components. McConnell announced his intention to pursue a repeal-only bill following the public loss of four Republican Senate votes for his bill to replace the ACA, which meant that replacement bill would not have enough votes to be brought to the floor for consideration.

“The resurrected ‘repeal-only’ bill would be nothing less than a disaster for insurance markets and the millions of middle-class families that rely on them. It also would devastate coverage for the millions of low-income people who would lose Medicaid coverage. A repeal-only bill is completely irresponsible. It would cause more than 30 million people to lose coverage and drastically increase premiums for millions more, particularly older Americans, while continuing to provide a massive tax cut for the wealthy.

“The time has come to put repeal aside, take Medicaid cuts off the table, and develop bipartisan, pragmatic solutions that improve care, enhance coverage, and promote the genuine affordability America’s families need and deserve.”