Pallone, Neal Denounce Republican ACA Repeal Bill

WASHINGTON, March 6 -- Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., ranking Democratic member of the House Ways and Means Committee, issued the following statement on the proposed bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act:

Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Richard Neal (D-MA) released the following joint statement tonight after Congressional Republicans proposed their bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and noticed the two committees will mark up the bill beginning Wednesday morning:

"The Republican repeal bill would rip health care away from millions of Americans, ration care for working families and seniors, and put insurance companies back in charge of health care decisions - contrary to everything President Trump has said he would do with his health care plan.

"The American people want health care that is affordable and available when they need it, but the Republican repeal bill would charge them more money for less care. It would dramatically drive up health care costs for seniors. And repeal would ration care for more than 70 million Americans, including seniors in nursing homes, pregnant women and children living with disabilities by arbitrarily cutting and capping Medicaid. The Republican repeal bill would not protect patients, save money, or help working families; it is nothing but a drastic and devastating step backward.

"The Republican repeal bill was drafted in secret, and introduced less than two days before our committees are scheduled to mark it up. This action makes a mockery of Speaker Ryan's claims that 'we're not hatching some bill in the backroom and plopping it on the American people's front door.' It also stands in stark contrast to the transparent and deliberate process Democrats followed when the Affordable Care Act was introduced and moved through our committees. It's disgraceful that there was no transparency in this process, and that the American people are not being given time to read and comment on a bill that significantly affects their health security."

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