Rep. Lipinski: I Voted Against Obamacare But Oppose ‘Repeal and Wait’

WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 -- Rep. Daniel Lipinski, D-Ill. (3rd CD), issued the following statement ahead of today's House vote on a budget resolution that is the first step in repealing Obamacare without a replacement:

"I voted against the Affordable Care Act (ACA) - also known as Obamacare - because I believed that, among other problems, it would not provide the help needed by many middle-class Americans who were struggling to afford good healthcare and it would drive our nation further into debt. But as I noted at the time, the ACA did make some important improvements to health insurance access. More people were given access to health insurance, individuals with pre-existing conditions were no longer charged more for coverage, and children could stay on their parents' insurance until they were 26.

"It is important to remember that the House was forced to vote up or down on a bill written in the Senate, so the ACA never went through refinement that could have made it better. But after the bill was passed, the two parties dug their trenches. Republicans only sought to repeal the whole ACA while claiming to want to replace it. To date, they have never offered a replacement. Meanwhile, Democrats who supported the bill did not want to offer changes for fear they would be seen as admitting that the ACA wasn't perfect. But I've known all along that changes were needed to make the ACA work, so I sponsored, co-sponsored, and voted for fixes more than 40 times. A few of these passed and became law, but most never did because Washington simply played politics with Americans' healthcare.

"Now for the first time since 2010 one party has control of the White House, House, and Senate. Republicans are now ready to repeal large parts of Obamacare without proposing a comprehensive, detailed replacement. I have said all along that I would consider supporting 'repeal and replace,' as long as the replacement is better. I will not support a replacement that takes away access, hurts those with pre-existing conditions, is a give-away to insurers and providers, or makes the middle class worse off than they are now. And I certainly do not support 'repeal and wait.' I have voted against full repeal of the ACA a half-dozen times over the past six years and will do so again when the House votes today on the Republican Budget Resolution. The resolution's sole purpose is to make it possible for the Senate to avoid a filibuster as they work to pass a repeal of key segments of the ACA while there is still no replacement.

"After six and a half years of posturing and politics, Washington finally needs to get to work on a bipartisan plan to make sure that Americans have better access to quality, affordable healthcare."

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