Rep. Neal Issues Opening Statement at Markup of GOP Health Care Repeal Bill
"
"Does it lower costs? No.
"Does it bend the cost curve? No.
"Does it cover more Americans? No.
"Does it cut the deficit? No.
"Even the President wants more information--earlier this year he called it an unbelievably complex subject. Nobody knew healthcare could be so complicated." This Republican bill--- which they cleverly broke up into separate parts to try to distract the American public -fails to protect 152 million Americans with pre-existing conditions and would allow insurers to charge older people five times as much as younger people, essentially implementing an "age tax". It forces millions to pay more for less care.
"Transparency is clearly lacking in this process. As recently as last week, I called upon
"In the House
"79 bipartisan health insurance reform hearings and markups over 2 years
"100 hours in hearings
"181 witnesses from both sides of the aisle
"239 Republican and Democrat amendments--121 were accepted
"30 days of online review of the original House bill before the first markup
"72 hours--number of hours the House bill was online for review before final vote
3,000 health care town halls and public events
"In the
"53 health insurance reform hearings in the
"8 days of markups with 135 amendments considered in
"47 bipartisan hearings and other open dialogues with 300 amendments during a 13 day markup in the
"25 consecutive days in session to discuss health reform in the
"160 hours total in the
"147 Republican amendments in the final
"This bill sabotages the Marketplaces where close to 10 million Americans today get coverage and starts a death spiral from which we will never recover. Healthy people won't bother with coverage or only buy bare bones policies. Sick people who need coverage would buy policies - if they are even available - that will undoubtedly become more and more expensive and unaffordable, especially in light of the inadequate tax credits.
"The most egregious part of the Republican plan slashes
"In addition, it would end the
"The measure also would cut the span of
"Hospitals would face crippling debt as they face increased uncompensated care and lower reimbursement rates. In turn, this would lead to job loss in many hospitals and have a negative ripple effect in communities where hospitals are the largest employer. For example, in
"Let's call this bill what it is: a plan that creates chaos in the insurance market that directly impacts patients and providers, hurts hospitals, the communities they serve and their regional economies.
"Before concluding, I would like to note that today's markup is really the Republican's first step on tax reform. This legislation is a tax bill; almost every provision amends the Internal Revenue Code. So, we need to view this bill through the lens of tax reform as well. And through that lens, the bill fails the test set out by Secretary Mnuchin for tax reform that, "there will be no absolute tax cut for the upper class." The Republican bill absolutely provides a tax cut for the wealthy and health care industry of almost
"Bottom line: this is ultimately about affordability. If
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