Pallone Blasts Republicans’ Catastrophic Health Care Cuts
“Let’s be clear, Republican leadership released this bill under cover of night because they don’t want people to know their true intentions.”
Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) released the following statement today after House Republicans unveiled their bill to cut Medicaid and take health care away from millions of Americans:
“Republicans finally released the bill they’ve been drafting behind closed doors for months to make catastrophic cuts to Americans’ health care all so they can give tax breaks to billionaires and corporate interests. This bill confirms what we’ve been saying all along, Trump and Republicans have been lying when they claim they aren’t going to cut Medicaid and take away people’s health care. Let’s be clear, Republican leadership released this bill under cover of night because they don’t want people to know their true intentions.
“This is not trimming fat from around the edges, it’s cutting to the bone. The overwhelming majority of the savings in this bill will come from taking health care away from millions of Americans. No where in the bill are they cutting ‘waste, fraud, and abuse’—they’re cutting people’s health care and using that money to give tax breaks to billionaires.
“In no uncertain terms, millions of Americans will lose their health care coverage, hospitals will close, seniors will not be able to access the care they need, and premiums will rise for millions of people if this bill passes.
“Taking health care away from children and moms, seniors in nursing homes, and people with disabilities to give tax breaks to people who don’t need them is shameful. Democrats have defeated Republican efforts to cut health care before and we can do it again.”
The independent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) determines at least 13.7 million more Americans will go uninsured on Trump and Congressional Republicans’ watch.
New analysis from the nonpartisan CBO found the health provisions in Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans’ bill will cut at least $715 billion and will result in at least 8.6 million more Americans going uninsured as a result of cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. The analysis was completed at the request of Democratic Committee leaders.
In additional analysis, CBO determined 5.1 million more Americans will go uninsured as a result of Republicans refusing to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, as well as full implementation of the Marketplace Integrity Rule.
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