Rep. Foster Issues Statement on Passage of American Health Care Act

WASHINGTON, May 4 -- Rep. Bill Foster, D-Ill., issued the following statement on the American Health Care Act:

"I was proud to cast my vote against the American Health Care Act. This is the 65th time Republicans have voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, but now we know what their replacement looks like. It would be an unmitigated disaster for hardworking Americans across this country.

"The Congressional Budget Office determined that under the original AHCA, 24 million Americans would lose their health insurance. A recent report by the Center for American Progress found that it would destroy nearly two million jobs. It would also slash Medicaid funding, threatening to take away access to treatment for an estimated 1.3 million Americans who suffer from opioid and heroin addiction. The current version was not even scored because the Republican Leadership rushed it to a vote before the CBO could evaluate an amendment added late last night that opens the door for states to gut preexisting condition protections and allow insurance companies to sell plans that don't cover doctors' visits, hospital stays or prescription drugs.

"The passage of this bill is a tragic symbolic victory; it stands no chance in the Senate. Republicans had an obligation from day one to inform the American people of this legislation's contents. Instead, they chose to craft it behind closed doors with no transparency for the people they were elected to serve. For seven years, Republicans promised us something better than the Affordable Care Act. In the end, this plan revealed these promises were simply not true. I urge the people that are going to be hurt by this bill to make their voices known as it makes its way through the Senate."