AFSCME Issues Statement on Failure of Latest Senate Health Care Bill

WASHINGTON, July 19 -- The AFSCME (American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees - AFL-CIO) issued the following statement by President Lee Saunders on the failure of the Better Care Reconciliation Act to get majority support in the Senate:

"When you write legislation that would take health insurance away from tens of millions of people, when you try to gut Medicaid and eliminate protections for people with pre-existing conditions, and when you try to do this without public hearings or robust debate, it's no surprise that you can't get 50 senators on board.

"The only thing more reckless than the Senate health care bill is President Trump's declaration that he wants to see the Affordable Care Act fail or 'explode.' He has also refused to guarantee the payments that reduce out-of-pocket costs for low-income people buying ACA coverage. Sabotaging the health care system and putting politics over people's lives is not what makes America great.

"Even bad public policy isn't defeated strictly on the merits. It takes unrelenting grassroots pressure on our elected representatives, which is exactly what we have seen from thousands upon thousands of Americans during the last six months.

"Now we have to keep it up, because this struggle is far from over. President Trump and his congressional allies will continue to look for ways to dismantle Obamacare, destroy Medicaid and strip access to care from millions of people. It's time to turn up the heat even higher and the volume even louder."