California Department of Insurance
House Republican repeal of ACA is bad medicine for 24 million Americans
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Commissioner Dave Jones issued the following statement on the House vote to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act:
“Today’s Republican House vote will rob 24 million Americans of health care coverage, which is tantamount to a death sentence for some patients who depend on coverage to manage serious and chronic medical conditions. The President and House Republicans have nothing to be proud of today as they work to take health care coverage away from millions of Americans who will be harmed by their actions.
The amendments fix none of this bill’s fundamental flaws and passing it before the Congressional Budget Office conducts its analysis is evidence of the lengths to which the House Republicans will go to hide the true impact of their bill on Americans’ health care.
The latest amendments to the already fatally flawed bill would permit the sale of insurance policies that do not cover many essential health benefits, rendering the coverage nearly useless when illness strikes. This bill also weakens existing prohibitions against annual and lifetime limits, which protect Americans from catastrophic medical costs. This bill would permit charging sick people prohibitively high premiums, depriving people of the ability to buy coverage. High-risk pools have failed patients in the past and this bill does not provide sufficient funding to make them work.
The House GOP professes to know better than patients and doctors what health care protections patients need-they ignored and ran over the strong objections of the American Medical Association, American Hospital Association, AARP, and countless others.
TrumpCare amounts to an enormous tax break for the rich that will devastate the Medicaid safety net that millions of working Californians rely upon, while also returning the health insurance market to a time when Americans who fell ill were priced out of coverage or had inadequate coverage, and where older Californians will face higher premiums.
The Affordable Care Act made it possible for California to expand Medi-Cal coverage to five million additional Californians and an additional 1.2 million Californians who receive federal premium subsidies. TrumpCare threatens Medi-Cal coverage and health insurance for all Californians who buy their own coverage.”
http://www.insurance.ca.gov/0400-news/0100-press-releases/2017/statement041-17.cfm
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, M.D., issued the following statement applauding passage of the American Health Care Act by the U.S. House of Representatives:
“The status quo is failing the American people. Premiums are skyrocketing; choices are narrowing or vanishing; and patients do not have access to the care they need. Today, the House of Representatives has begun to deliver on President Trump’s promise to repeal a broken law and replace it with solutions that put patients in charge. This is a victory for the American people.
“The American Health Care Act is focused on patients. It is the first step toward a patient-centered healthcare system that will provide Americans access to quality, affordable healthcare coverage, empowering individuals and families to choose the coverage that best meets their needs, not what Washington forces them to buy, and equipping states to address the diverse needs of their most vulnerable populations. As Congress continues its work, the team at HHS will continue to support the reform effort by reviewing and initiating administrative actions to put patients, families and doctors in charge of medical decisions, bring down costs, and increase choices.”
Statement from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma
Today is the first of what I am confident will be many historic days ahead as we move toward patient-centered healthcare instead of government-centered healthcare.
I have worked in the field of Medicaid for 20 years and have heard from many mothers like myself who have shared their struggles and their hopes for a more affordable, more sustainable healthcare system. It is important that our most vulnerable citizens, the aged, the infirm, the blind and the disabled have more choices, greater access and peace of mind when it comes to their healthcare.
The bill that was passed today is a great first step achieving this goal.