Washington, DC — Today, the Senate Democratic Caucus, led by Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden and Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock, wrote a letter to Dr. Oz, Administrator of the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, demanding CMS withdraw the interim final rule implementing GOP Medicaid work requirements. The work requirements rule released on June 1 is designed to rip care away from as many otherwise eligible Americans as possible, in order to pay for tax breaks for billionaires and corporations and endanger health care for those who need it most.
Along with the letter, Senator Wyden and Representative Pallone, Jr. released their latest report detailing how working families have been paying the price for the GOP’s war on health care. Ever since Trump and Republicans cut over $1 trillion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to fund tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations, working families have lost the health care tax credits they relied on, are facing skyrocketing premiums, and, for many, coverage is slipping out of reach. Work requirements are but another move in Republicans’ sabotage agenda and Democrats are leading the fight to withdraw them.
In response, Protect Our Care Senior Advisor Anne Shoup released the following statement:
“This letter from the Senate Democratic Caucus is a crucial reminder that Republicans’ assault on health care is far from over. One year ago, they slashed over $1 trillion from health care to fund tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations, plunging our country into a health care crisis, and creating devastating consequences for working Americans. Now, they’re going one step further by weaponizing government bureaucracy against the American people. They’re adding unnecessary red tape and labyrinths of paperwork designed to make people lose their health care, even when they are eligible. Democrats will fight tooth and nail to make sure that working families don’t lose the care they need and deserve.”
To channel the frustration of millions across parties who are fed up with Republicans putting the interests of billionaires ahead of working families, Protect Our Care has launched “Sick of It! Fix Health Care Now” a multi-month campaign holding Trump and Republicans accountable and demanding commonsense solutions to ensure that health care is affordable, available, and equitable for all Americans.