Feinstein Speaks Against Republican Health Care Repeal Efforts
Video is available here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8_uIHn-rU4. Excerpts of Feinstein's remarks as delivered follow:
"Let me correct something. They say also, well Obamacare is 'dead.' It's 'imploding'. They say this to build support for repealing the law.
"But they're wrong. In
"There are 1.5 million people signed up through the website Covered California. Enrollments have been stable and there has been no uptick in healthy people leaving the insurance market. The general consensus among experts is that the federal health care market is not collapsing.
"
Constituent story
"I'd like to share a story from Monica, from
"She was diagnosed with breast cancer shortly after gaining coverage through
"Her doctor told her that she would have been dead had she not been covered by her new plan. She had cared for her father 10 years prior to his death from Parkinson's disease. She didn't have access to employer-provided insurance and wasn't eligible for Medicaid at the time.
"By the time the Affordable Care Act was implemented, she qualified for a plan through Covered California.
"And she wrote, 'Without the ACA, I would not be alive to write this post.'
"I wonder if that means anything to anybody on the Republican side of the aisle. No one comes forward. No one says what they would need. And this is such a big issue. It affects every single one of us and every single one of our constituents."
Policy overview
"If the
"It would take health coverage away from 23 million working and middle-class families to finance a tax cut for the richest 5 percent of Americans. This is indefensible. There's no justification for giving millionaires a
"And I don't know of any that are asking for it. It's some kind of blighted political agenda that you can leave the elderly and the sick untended and it justifies a
"This would end Medicaid as we've known it for 50 years by cutting
"It eliminates protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
"It defunds
Process
"I've just got to say: This is the least transparent process for a major piece of legislation I've seen in my 24 years in the
"There's no draft for public review. No Democratic senator has seen the bill. Republican senators all say they haven't seen the bill either. When Republican senators are asked what's in the bill--unless they're the 13 privileged ones--they say they have no idea. Everyone except the 13
"Health experts and health advocacy organizations have been shut out. No one representing doctors, nurses, patients, children, the elderly, hospitals, community clinics, or health plans is able to provide any feedback at all on how the bill would affect people.
"Over the weekend, the Los Angeles Times reported that a coalition of more than 15 patient groups, including, the
"That's unbelievable. Think of it. Think of the
"Do my Republican colleagues really believe that groups like the
"Health care is the last subject that should be addressed behind closed doors, hidden from public view.
"Yet, apparently,
"It's important to point out the contrast between what's happening now and our consideration of the Affordable Health Care Act. That's what's known as Obamacare.
"There were 100 hearings, meetings, roundtables, and walkthroughs of the bill between the Senate Finance and HELP Committees. There were 25 consecutive days and 160 hours of debate on the
Closing
"I'd like to say to my Republican colleagues. Don't do this. Don't write a bill in secret. Don't take health care away from millions of people to cut taxes for the rich. Don't undermine protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Don't allow insurers to go back to the days of selling junk plans. And don't end Medicaid. We've known it for so long. It's working. It's covering poor and elderly all across this country.
"Those of us on this side of the aisle want to make the Affordable Care Act better. We want to work to improve our health care system. We stand ready to work together on behalf of our constituents.
"But if our colleagues continue down this path, we will fight this bill with all we have. The stakes are too high not to."
Read this original document at: https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=9607756F-AE0A-4D5B-984E-AA0AC15EA844
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