Rep. Wilson Responds to CBO’s Report on Republicans’ Health Care Bill

WASHINGTON, March 13 -- Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., issued the following statement on the Congressional Budget Office's report on how the Republicans' legislation will impact Americans' access to affordable health care:

"Today the Congressional Budget Office released a report on the Republicans' health care bill that reinforced what we've known all along: Millions of Americans will lose their health care coverage while the nation's millionaires and billionaires simultaneously get a tax break.

"According to the CBO report, 24 million Americans will ultimately become uninsured under the GOP's American Health Care Act, including 14 million next year alone. In addition, 19 percent of the nonelderly population will be uninsured in 2026, compared to 10 percent under the Affordable Care Act.

"If the GOP's reverse Robin Hood-themed legislation becomes law, a 64-year-old earning $26,500 per year will have to spend more than half of his or her income ($12,900) to pay for premiums in the individual market. All the while, the nation's wealthiest and large corporations will enjoy $600 billion in tax cuts. The Republicans' proposal also defunds Planned Parenthood in the first year, which would deprive many women of access to annual exams and contraception and family planning services and slashes Medicaid by $880 billion over the next ten years. Many people who do manage to purchase an insurance plan will find themselves paying far more for way less.

"To describe the GOP's American Health Care Act as merciless and inhumane would be the epitome of understatement. Republicans continue to insist that all Americans will have access to care, but don't believe the hype. Access does not guarantee affordability and the GOP plan is a prescription for disaster."

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