Retired Public Employees Council of WA Working to protect and enhance the pension and health care benefits of Washington retired state, county and local government employees
ACA Repeal Narrowly Passes House Vote
House leaders succeeded yesterday in mustering enough votes to narrowly pass HR 1628 – American Health Care Act of 2017, (the repeal and replacement of the ACA/”ObamaCare”), in the House of Representatives with a 217-213 vote. While they publically celebrated their victory of robbing 24 million Americans of health care, gutting $883 million from Medicaid, and drive up premium costs for low-income and older Americans, there is still a ways to go before this disastrous bill becomes law.
It now moves on to the Senate, which is most likely to write their own version instead of trying to amend the House’s version, but unlike the House, are in no rush to do so. Many Senators expressed their displeasure with the House’s bill passage.
“In my eight years in the Senate and nearly 20 years in public service, I have never seen a worse bill than this one,” said Sen. Jeff Merkley (Ore.).
“The bill that [was] passed today is an absolute disaster,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) said. “It really has nothing to do with health care. It has everything to do with an enormous shift of wealth from working people to the richest Americans.”
“This is not a health care bill – it’s a tax cut for millionaires that’s paid for by taking insurance away from the sick and jacking up prices for the healthy,” Sen. Chris Murphy (Conn.) said.
The vote on HR 1628 was preceded by a vote on HR 2192, which if it had not passed, would have exempted Congress and its staffers from the effects of the AHCA.
“All you need to know about this bill is that [House members] tried to exempt themselves from it before they got caught. That’s because they know it’s a raw deal,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.) said.
Are you mad yet?
A Nevada woman who benefitted from the Affordable Care Act in 2010 stated, “Why are rich people so much more important than I am, that their tax cuts are more important than my health? How can people vote to “improve” healthcare, but make themselves immune from the effects? So, you want to know how I feel about AHCA? I am thoroughly, implacably angry.”
Here’s How Your Washington Congressional Delegation Voted
Here’s how your Washington Congressional delegation voted on HR 1628 – American Health Care Act of 2017 (the repeal and replacement of the ACA/ObamaCare):
Voting Yes for AHCA 2017 –
Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (5th district)
Voting No against ACHA 2017 –
Rep. Suzan DelBene (1st district)
Rep. Rick Larsen (2nd district)
Rep. Jaime Herrera-Beutler (3rd district)
Rep. Derek Kilmer (6th district)
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (7th district)
Rep. Dave Reichert (8th district)
Rep. Adam Smith (9th district)
Rep. Dennis Heck (10th district)
Not Voting –
Rep. Dan Newhouse (4th district)
Please take a moment and reach out to your Congress people and Thank them for supporting and protecting their constituents and not the wealthy elite that this bill benefits.
Response from Governor Inslee and Insurance Commissioner Kreidler
Governor Jay Inslee posted on his Facebook page shortly after the AHCA vote:
“Today is a shameful day in American history… Congress have voted to strip health care coverage from over 700,000 Washingtonians, and to remove the guarantee that all Americans cannot be denied coverage or charged more because they have a pre-existing condition. Their actions today threaten the health and financial security of millions of American families and undermine our health insurance markets, resulting in likely premium spikes. We have made great progress in Washington state’s health care system through bipartisan work and support, yet Congress is now threatening to throw it all away in favor of poorly-conceived partisan legislation.”
Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler also released a statement:
“The vote by [Congress] to approve a revised version of the American Health Care Act clearly shows how they favor politics over meaningful health care for all Americans.”
He continues, “The bill takes a previously shoddy proposal and makes it worse. Most troubling is its removal of protections for people with pre-existing conditions and reliance on seriously underfunded high-risk pools. Washington’s own experience with a high-risk pool shows that 80 percent of those who really need such coverage cannot afford the high premiums.”
He concluded saying, “House [leadership] passed their bill so that they could declare a “win.” The reality is that this legislation, if signed into law as is, would strip coverage and protections from millions of Americans. It would increase costs, put lives at risk and return us to the dark days before the Affordable Care Act.”
As you can see, we have much work to do in the weeks and months ahead to continue the betterment of your retirement security. Your continued support and political action is a necessity!
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