Rep. Dingell Comments on Affordable Care Act Repeal

WASHINGTON, March 8 -- Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., issued the following statement a the full Energy and Commerce Committee markup of the Republican's proposal to repeal the Affordable Care Act:

"Our job is to represent the working men and women and their families of our district and to fight to protect them. Pure and simple: this bill would mean less coverage, fewer protections and higher costs.

"I wasn't in Congress when we passed the Affordable Care Act, but I know someone who was intimately involved in the process - in fact we're in a room that bears his name. This was his life's work - and I can tell you that on behalf of John Dingell, Ted Kennedy, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the generations of other leaders who fought for the right of every American for quality, affordable health care. We cannot let you take health care away from people who need it most and we will not go down without a fight."

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The Republican repeal bill is being marked up without a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score that reveals how much the bill costs and how many people will lose health care coverage. It includes provisions that will lead to less coverage, fewer protections and higher costs for working families and seniors.

The Republican repeal bill:

Implements an "age tax" for older Americans, which will drastically increase costs seniors pay for their healthcare. Older Americans will be forced to pay premiums five times higher than what others pay for health coverage.

Rips health care away from millions of Americans by ending Medicaid expansion, which was championed by a Republican governor in Michigan and has covered 695,000 people in the state.

Rations care for 76 million Americans by arbitrarily cutting and capping Medicaid, using a program that provides critical health services to the most vulnerable Americans as a piggy bank to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy.

Forces Americans to pay more for less. Working families could see their premiums and deductibles increase by hundreds to thousands of dollars.

Fails to protect up to 129 million Americans with pre-existing conditions. Protections only apply for those who maintain continuous coverage. If someone has a lapse in coverage, insurance companies could charge a 30 percent premium increase for an entire year.

Defunds Planned Parenthood. Women with nowhere else to turn will lose access to essential preventative care.

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