Rep. Gallego: GOP’s ACA Replacement Bill Guts Medicare to Fund Tax Break for Millionaires
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Ruben Gallego issued the following statement on the new Republican healthcare bill that benefits the very rich, at the cost of coverage for working families:
"The GOP's ‘repeal and replace' bill will gut Medicaid and weaken Medicare in order to fund tax breaks for millionaires. I will also not support a bill that leaves millions of families without Medicaid and millions of women without access to reproductive healthcare.
"The Republican healthcare plan will cut taxes for the top 1% while blowing a $346 billion hole in federal budgets and the Medicare Trust Fund. Under this plan, millionaires will receive an average of $50,000 in tax cuts. This bill is little more than a tax giveaway to millionaires, billionaires and insurance companies.
"What do average working class families get out of this deal? They get left behind. The Republican health plan will leave state governments to cover the cost of Medicaid expansion, forcing them to kick millions of people off the program. The GOP's plan will make health insurance for Americans in the ACA marketplace far more expensive. Last year, 124,346 Arizonans received federal subsidies to help them afford private insurance policies and this plan will make healthcare unattainable for many of those individuals.
"Under this plan, millions of women all across the country will also lose access to cancer screenings, birth control, and STD testing and treatment. This is simply unacceptable.
"Republicans had 8 years to work with Democrats to improve our healthcare system. Instead, they have decided to rush through a repeal of ACA without having a serious plan to consider. I oppose the GOP healthcare bill and will fight it on behalf of working families in Phoenix and communities everywhere."
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