Rep. Lieu Issues Statement on House GOP Vote to Repeal the Affordable Care Act

WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 -- Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif. (33rd CD), issued the following statement in response to House Republicans taking the first step in their attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act:

"I am proud to have voted 'No' today on the first step of the Republican repeal action that will increase health insurance costs, create chaos in the insurance markets and rip health security away from 30 million Americans. With a repeal of the Affordable Care Act with no replacement plan, insurance premiums will rise and health insurance companies will deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions. With their 'Yes' votes today in the absence of a plan, Republicans and GOP President-elect Donald Trump*** now fully own this issue and in two years the American people will know if health insurance costs have gone up or gone down and if their health coverage has gotten better or worse."

"For six years, Republicans have offered no alternative to the ACA and they aren't offering one now. The reason is simple: MATH. It is impossible to keep the amazing parts of the current law--such as a ban on pre-existing coverage denials, a ban on lifetime coverage maximums, and letting people stay on their parents' plan until 26--without paying for them. The bottom line is that the GOP 'repeal and replace' plan is a sham because MATH does not compromise. I agree with President Obama that if Republicans can come up with a better plan, then we should support it. But it is irresponsible and a dereliction of duty to vote for a repeal without seeing if another plan would be better or worse."

"In my home state of California, 5 million mothers and fathers, daughters and sons, owe their health security to the ACA. Every one of these five million Californians carry a powerful personal story of how their lives have been improved and in many cases saved because of current law. I recently heard from a woman in my district, a 2-time cancer survivor, that the ACA keeps her family out of bankruptcy since the law eliminates annual and lifetime coverage maximums, meaning they can afford the health care they desperately need. Repealing the ACA without a better alternative plan would destroy families such as this."

"Repealing the ACA without a better plan will not only Make America Sick Again, it will also deal a devastating blow to our economy by killing 3 million jobs. Such a repeal will also add $9.5 trillion to the debt over the next 10 years (MATH strikes again). As a recently appointed Assistant Whip for the House Democratic Caucus, I stand with my fellow Democrats to fight any and all attempts to repeal the ACA without a better plan."

*** In addition to losing the popular vote, Trump on January 20, 2017 will be in violation of the Emolument's Clause set forth in Article I, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution due to massive conflicts of interests and his refusal to put his global business holdings in blind trusts. Trump also benefitted from Vladimir Putin ordering a multifaceted and brazen Russian influence and cyber hacking campaign with the goals of undermining faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrating Secretary Clinton's electability, and helping Trump's election chances.

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