Report Shows +250,000 Cook County Residents Are at Risk of Losing Insurance Due to Republican Efforts to Remove Affordable Care Act Protections

CHICAGO - Today, U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05) joined Reps. Kelly, Schakowsky, and other Chicago leaders and health care advocates for a press conference to unveil the findings of a troubling new report that outlines how 253,000 residents of Cook County who buy individual health insurance are at risk of losing their health insurance because of Republican efforts to take away Affordable Care Act protections. You can read the report here https://schakowsky.house.gov/uploads/Cook%20County%20ACA%20Pre-Existing%20Conditions%20Report.pdf, and Rep. Quigley's remarks, as prepared for delivery, below:

Good afternoon. Thank you to everyone for joining here today, and thank you to my colleagues, Congresswomen Kelly and Schakowsky, for organizing this event.

Throughout my time in Congress, I have heard countless stories of people whose lives were saved and others who are now insured for the first time ever because of the Affordable Care Act.

I was proud to cast my vote for ACA, one of my first as a Member of Congress. It's crazy to think we took that vote in 2010 and in 2018, we're still here, defending the lifesaving law against attempts at sabotage.

Republicans' political efforts to undermine the ACA, reduce coverage, and revert to these despicable discriminatory policies are tired and unacceptable. Death by a thousand cuts.

However, despite trying every trick in the book, the ACA is still the law of the land and more popular than ever. Recent polling shows that 3 out of 4 Americans support protecting pre-existing coverage protection.

Think about how things were before the ACA and think about what constitutes a pre-existing condition? Insurers charged for conditions big and small--acne, asthma, cancer, diabetes, heart disease - even gender. The list goes on.

People do not ask to get sick, to be born sick.

Pre-existing coverage care works because it allows people to get the care they desperately need and to stay in that care once they get it. The alternative for these patients was seeking emergency care after they had rationed drugs or went too long without seeing a doctor.

This new report shows that 253,000 residents in Cook County could lose coverage because of these draconian rollbacks. We cannot go back to the days when pre-existing conditions were disqualifying to insurers.

Democrats are fighting like hell to protect these provisions, and we will continue to call on our Republican colleagues to put aside whatever outdated opinions they have about Obamacare and actually work with us to make America healthier.

Read this original document at: https://quigley.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/quigley-joins-chicago-lawmakers-advocates-unveiling-new-report-impacts