Rep. Pingree: Voting Against Budget Resolution That Fast-Tracks Affordable Care Act Repeal

WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 -- Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine (1st CD), issued the following news release:

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree will vote against a House budget resolution today that fast-tracks repeal of the Affordable Care Act without a plan to replace it.

"What Republicans are trying to do to the nation's health care system is appalling. It's bad enough that repealing the Affordable Care Act threatens the health care that millions of Americans have accessed through it--as well as the economic benefits of reducing uncompensated care at hospitals and helping small businesses get coverage," Pingree said. "But to do so without a plan for replacing it shows a gross lack of interest in addressing the country's real health care problems."

"Right now, record numbers of Americans are signing up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act with the expectation that they will have coverage this year. Many others are in the middle of receiving treatment for illnesses or addiction with insurance the law helped them receive," Pingree continued. "What are these people going to do when the rug is yanked out from under them? Or, for that matter, the health providers across the country who've hired thousands people to care for millions of new patients? Maine alone could lose 13,000 jobs. Republicans acknowledge that they don't have answers to these questions, but it's not stopping them from setting something terrible in motion."

Last week, Pingree put out a call for Mainers to submit their stories of how the Affordable Care Act has benefited them. She received over a thousand responses. Here are just a few:

"Under Obamacare, we now pay one-third of our old premium and have a $2,500 deductible. I had my first physical in over 20 years." --Patrick, a small business owner from Winthrop

"I have 2 adult daughters who were not expected to live to adulthood. If the ACA is repealed I worry that we will lose the protection that it gave my daughters from being denied health care coverage due to a pre-existing condition. My daughters will literally die without the health care they receive. Please do not repeal this law without a realistic alternative." --Anna, from Leeds

"In 2014 I had three joints replaced; life-changing surgeries that restored my active lifestyle and removed chronic pain from my life. These were only possible because I was able to access health insurance as an individual, at reasonable cost."--Elisabeth from Phippsburg

Maine-specific ACA repeal facts, compiled by Consumers for Affordable Health Care.

* 95,000 Mainers stand to lose coverage in the individual market

* 64,000 Mainers who get assistance paying premiums could lose it

* Maine seniors who saved $66 million on prescription drugs by closing the Medicare donut hole could now be on the hook for higher costs

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