Young, Donnelly react to Senate health care vote

Herald-Times (Bloomington, IN)

July 26--Indiana's senators on Capitol Hill weighed in Tuesday afternoon following a vote to begin debate on a bill that would repeal and possibly replace the Affordable Care Act.

Republican U.S. Sen. Todd Young voted in favor of the measure, which passed 51-50 after Vice President Mike Pence cast the tie-breaking vote.

"Nearly everyone agrees that doing nothing is not an option. Insurers have fled the individual market, and premiums continue to rise without any indication the law's death spiral will stop. Ultimately, it is imperative that we fundamentally reform our health care system, and my vote to proceed to debate allows us to begin that process," Young said in an emailed statement. "I will continue to work with my colleagues, on both sides of the aisle, to come up with a solution that provides long-term stability to our health care system and gives each and every Hoosier the opportunity to access quality and affordable insurance."

One such colleague, Indiana's Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly, voted against the procedural vote, as did every other Democratic senator and two Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

"I have said for years that there is bipartisan support for ideas to improve and strengthen the American health care system in a way that would reduce costs while improving access. I'm disappointed that the Senate has decided to make this a partisan process in an attempt to jam through proposals that would threaten the health and economic well-being of millions of Americans," Donnelly said in a statement released on his website. "I am going to continue to do everything possible to fight for quality, affordable health care for Hoosiers, and that is why I will be leading an amendment to protect Medicaid, including Indiana's HIP 2.0 program. I think we can all agree that our health care system can be improved; however, that cannot be achieved by taking away health care from people or reversing the progress states like Indiana have made to provide affordable health care."

On Monday prior to the vote, Donnelly announced that should the Senate proceed, he would offer an amendment to protect Medicaid, including Indiana's HIP 2.0 program, which provides coverage for more than 400,000 Hoosiers.