On 8th Anniversary of Affordable Care Act, Rep. Meeks Calls on GOP to End Sabotage & Work Together to Improve the ACA and Lower Americans’ Health Care Costs
On 8th Anniversary of Affordable Care Act, Rep. Meeks Calls on GOP to End Sabotage & Work Together to Improve the ACA and Lower Americans' Health Care Costs
Research Shows GOP Actions Needlessly Increasing New York State Health Premiums by roughly 14 Percent in 2018, for Those Without Subsidies
On the eighth anniversary of President Obama's signing of the Affordable Care Act, Rep. Meeks called on Republicans to stop their sabotage and instead work in good faith to improve Americans' health care by lowering Americans' health care costs, including taking action on Democrats' A Better Deal to Lower the Cost of Prescription Drugs proposal. Rep. Meeks also highlighted new data detailing the consequences of Trumpcare and the GOP healthcare sabotage effort for New Yorkers.
"Instead of working to improve the quality and affordability of health care, Trump's Republican party continues to wage partisan war against President Obama's legacy – leaving millions of Americans caught in the crossfire," said Rep. Meeks. "Over 8 million New Yorkers with pre-existing conditions rely on the ACA's landmark guarantees of coverage, yet Republicans continue to seek to undermine them. Despite public outrage leading to the defeat of the Trump health plan, Republicans continue to ignore the voices of American families as they sabotage health care and threaten millions more by attempting to dismantle Medicare and Medicaid."
"Democrats are determined to protect and improve health care, including with A Better Deal to Lower the Cost of Prescription Drugs, targeting the root causes of skyrocketing health care prices in America," said Rep. Meeks. "I will continue to work to strengthen the ACA, as opposed to pulling the rug out from under millions of Americans, which is exactly what Republicans want to do."
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Seven Congressional Republicans from New York voted for the version of Trumpcare that would have raised premiums, imposed an age tax on older Americans, eliminated key protections for those with pre-existing conditions, and taken away health coverage from 1.2 million New Yorkers.
Thanks to the ACA's premium assistance subsidies, 85 percent of those who buy coverage through the health insurance marketplaces are shielded from premium hikes. However, under the GOP sabotage, the average premium hike for New Yorkers without premium subsidies was 13.9% between 2017 and 2018.
According to the non-partisan Urban Institute, the GOP's repeal of the individual mandate and expansion of short-term junk coverage plans that can discriminate against pre-existing conditions and do not include essential health benefits are projected to cause an additional 8.8% premium hike in 2019. These two Republican actions are projected to result in nearly 100,000 additional New Yorkers without comprehensive health coverage in 2019 because they will either become uninsured or will be enrolled in junk plans that don't provide key health benefits.