Rep. Conyers: For Once, I Agree With Gov. Snyder!

WASHINGTON, March 21 -- Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., issued the following news release:

Today, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder sent a letter to the entire Michigan Congressional Delegation informing them of his opposition to the American Health Care Act, the House Speaker Paul Ryan and President Donald Trump backed plan to sharply cut Medicaid and reduce taxes for the wealthiest Americans. In his letter, Governor Snyder points out that the bill "shifts significant financial risk and cost from the federal government to states without providing sufficient flexibility to manage this additional responsibility," and that it "reduces federal resources that our state relies on to assist 2.4 million Michiganders enrolled in traditional Medicaid and the Healthy Michigan Plan ..."

In response, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (MI-13) released the following statement:

"For once, I agree with Governor Snyder's views on the Republican healthcare bill -- or as I call it, wealth care bill. As Snyder points out, about half of all children in Michigan are served by Medicaid, and those children will suffer if Donald Trump and Paul Ryan pass this massive tax cut for the wealthy.

"The bill is a massive transfer of wealth that takes money from those most in need and gives it to the rich. Under this bill, the 400 wealthiest families in America get a tax break worth $7 million per year. The bill undoes protections that the Affordable Care Act provides by allowing insurance companies to discriminate against cancer survivors or people with disabilities by charging them higher rates, or denying them coverage altogether. This Trump/Ryan backed bill also allows insurance companies to charge seniors five times more than what others pay for the same plan.

"Governor Snyder is right to be concerned about the additional costs this bad bill will shift to the state of Michigan. Because I believe that healthcare is a right for all, not a privilege for those who can afford it, I have long championed a single-payer, Medicare-for-All (https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/676?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22medicare+for+all%22%5D%7D&r=1) approach to healthcare that would finally establish truly universal care. If Governor Snyder is serious about reducing the strain on state resources, I call on him to join me in supporting Medicare-for-All, which would virtually eliminate state spending to subsidize care."

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