Loving this response:
As Republican leaders in the U.S. Senate today revealed a draft of health care legislation they say will stabilize individual insurance markets, Democrats from Michigan and elsewhere attacked it as mean-spirited and stingy, saying it will hurt lower-income families and seniors.
“Frankly, we’d like to have a ceremony and light this on fire,” U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said on the Senate floor, waving a copy of the 142-page draft legislation as she argued against the bill, which is intended to repeal and replace the 7-year-old Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell unveiled the draft bill, which follows a U.S. House vote on a similar measure in May that could have far-ranging impact in Michigan, where 1 million people get coverage on ACA exchanges or through Healthy Michigan, the state’s Medicaid expansion plan.
The legislation eliminates the requirement that people have insurance, reins in Medicaid spending and eligibility, and cuts back insurance premium subsidies for some low- and middle-income Americans. A vote on it could come next week before the Senate takes its July 4th recess.
Other portions of the bill:
- Eliminate requirements that insurers on the exchanges provide essential health benefits such as prescription drug and maternity care as of 2020.
- Allow states to put in place work requirements for Medicaid coverage for poor people and experiment with ways to contain costs while providing care.
- Keeps in place requirements to cover preexisting conditions and let children stay on parents' policies until age 26, though if subsidies decrease, those policies could cost people more.
Well said. While Democrats may not be able to literally set the bill on fire we can help them get four Republican Senators to reject this disastrous bill. Click here to contact your Senator and tell them to reject Trumpcare.
And while you’re at it, click here to donate and get involved with Stabenow’s re-election campaign.