For Immediate Release: Wednesday, October 18, 2017
Contact: Morgan Williams Grogan, morgan.williams@
Bipartisan Deal Marks First Step to Stabilize Insurance Markets, Undo President’s Health Care Sabotage Campaign
Washington, D.C. – In response to the bipartisan deal to stabilize health care markets announced by Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Patty Murry (D-WA), Health Care for America Now Co-Directors Ethan Rome and Margarida Jorge released the following statement:
“The bipartisan health care deal is the first step toward stabilizing the insurance marketplaces and protecting access to affordable care that millions of Americans need. As President Trump continues his relentless effort to dismantle the Affordable Care Act piece by piece – regardless of how many Americans lose health care or face skyrocketing premiums – Congress needs to come together to create commonsense fixes for the problems the President is determined to create.
“For months, Congressional Republicans have stuffed cotton in their ears, ignoring their constituents’ pleas to protect and strengthen the Affordable Care Act and repeatedly working to strip millions of health care, force Americans to pay more for less, and weaken important consumer protections. This is a welcome change.
“While we don’t expect the GOP to end its efforts to repeal the ACA and slash Medicaid and Medicare, we do expect our elected officials to enforce, and not undermine, the laws of the land. That includes the ACA. We hope that this is just the first bipartisan deal to help undo President Trump’s efforts to prevent Americans from signing up for health care coverage, force everyone to pay higher premiums, end guarantees of basic health care services, and throw the markets into chaos.
“This deal shows that progress can be made when Congressional Republicans put politics aside and unite with Democrats around the common purpose of improving access to affordable care. Congress should take immediate action to support Senators Alexander and Murray’s deal and prevent further damage by President Trump and his administration.”
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Health Care for America Now (HCAN) is the national grassroots coalition that ran a $60 million five-and-a-half year campaign from 2008-2013 to pass, protect, and promote the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and protect Medicare and Medicaid. HCAN has come back together to fight the Republicans’ all-out effort to take away America’s health care and put people at the mercy of the health insurance companies again.
