Rep. Schrader: Republican Repeal Sends Affordable Health Coverage Into A Death Spiral

Targeted News Service

WASHINGTON, June 23 -- Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore., issued the following statement in response to the public release of the Senate bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act:

"The Republican repeal bill that the Senate is now considering is even worse than the bill that was forced through the House last month, which already would take health care from hundreds of thousands of Oregonians.

"Slashing Medicaid expansion is going to destroy our efficient coordinated care and rural hospitals in Oregon, killing the economy across rural America. National insurance companies will pull out of the individual market with the lack of any permanence to reinsurance and cost sharing reductions. Their bill is also going to lead to huge premium and deductible price hikes for everyone, especially seniors.

"All of this will leave millions without access to any affordable insurance while the marketplaces grow increasingly more unstable. With all of the uncertainty we've been facing since the House Republican repeal bill was introduced, our focus right now needs to be on stabilizing the insurance markets. Undermining enrollment does exactly the opposite and sends affordable health coverage into a death spiral."

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Schrader voted against the House version of the bill in April, along with Democrats and 20 Republicans. In March, he joined his colleagues in his Energy and Commerce Committee for a 27 hour marathon markup of the bill. Schrader attempted a motion to delay that markup until a CBO score on the bill was released, but the majority tabled the motion without debate. Ultimately, the full House vote on the bill was forced through more than two weeks before the CBO finally released its score, revealing the bill will take healthcare away from 23 million Americans while premiums spike as much as 20 percent. Congressman Schrader is a member of the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee and is Co-Chair of the New Democrat Coalition Affordable and Accessible Healthcare Task Force.