Durbin: Republican Health Care Repeal Bill Means Tens Of Millions Lose Health Insurance
WASHINGTON – Following the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) blistering analysis of Republicans’ plan to repeal health care, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) explained how the proposal would hurt millions in Illinois and across the country, especially seniors and low- and middle-income families. In a speech on the Senate floor, Durbin slammed the Republican bill for providing tax breaks for the wealthiest individuals and largest corporations in America while increasing out-of-pocket health costs and leaving 24 million Americans without insurance.
“Under Trumpcare, the new Republican plan, 14 million people would lose their health coverage next year. By 2026, 24 million people will have lost their health care coverage. Is this what we were looking for in the replacement plan for the Affordable Care Act? To say to 24 million Americans you'll no longer have health insurance coverage?
“Think about the outcome of that. Think about someone with a chronically-ill child or who faces a chronic illness themselves with no health insurance. Think about a working person who has no health insurance where they work – at least [they] had coverage through Medicaid and perhaps through the insurance exchange with a subsidy. Now they're losing it. Think about those same people without health insurance who still get sick and still go to the hospital and are unable to pay. Incidentally, their bills that they can't pay, we pay. Those bills are passed on to everyone else. The first plank of Trumpcare, according to the Congressional Budget Office, is to eliminate health insurance for 24 million Americans."