Upton Amendment Does Nothing to Improve Republican Health Care Repeal Bill
The following is a statement by Margarida Jorge and Ethan Rome, co-directors of Health Care for America Now (HCAN), in response to reports that some House Republicans are planning to support the health care repeal bill if Rep. Fred Upton’s proposed amendment is included.
“The proposed Upton Amendment is like throwing a bucket of water on a five-alarm fire. It’s a cynical political gimmick and continues to leave those with pre-existing conditions at the whim of insurance companies.
“The bill still takes health care away from 24 million people, puts every single American with a pre-existing condition at risk of losing their care or not being able to find care they can afford, and does so to give more than $600 billion in tax breaks to the very wealthy and the big insurance and drug companies.
“Rather than work to reduce costs and increase access to health care, Speaker Ryan and President Trump are racing to pass a repeal bill, regardless of how many people it hurts and without a full understanding of what it does.”
###
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.
