Washington D.C. — Today, Republicans in the House Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means Committees voted to devastate American health care so they can give tax cuts to billionaires and big corporations. This bill will rip health care away from millions of Americans, including children, seniors, caretakers, people battling cancer or addiction, and working families who don’t receive health care through their employers. With the largest Medicaid cuts in history, Republicans will force rural hospitals to close, push seniors out of nursing homes, strip women of affordable reproductive care, and leave working families without access to the most basic health services. At the same time, they are taking away tax credits that lower premium costs for middle-class families and sabotaging the Affordable Care Act.
Republicans are lying when they call this bill a moderate compromise. It will cause the same harm as their previous bills, including over $700 billion in cuts to health care that will hike costs and rip coverage away from millions of people. House Republicans deliberately delayed debate until the dead of night in order to dodge accountability and the attention of the public, because they know just how cruel and unpopular these cuts are. Throughout the night, Republicans voted down amendment after amendment that would’ve helped protect coverage and care for those who need it.
“These committee markups revealed Republicans’ true colors and proved what we’ve known all along: Republicans are trashing our health care to fund tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans and corporations,” said Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach. “There’s nothing moderate about taking health care from working people to give tax breaks to the wealthy. Republicans rejected every attempt to protect people’s health care and instead pushed through the largest Medicaid cuts in history. Communities across the country are going to feel the devastating impacts of this legislation for generations. Hospitals will close, seniors will be forced out of nursing homes, people with disabilities will lose their support, and working families will lose access to lifesaving care – all so Trump and Republicans can make the rich even richer. As this legislation moves to the House floor, Republicans will have one more chance to put the needs of working families over billionaires and reject these cuts.”
BACKGROUND