Washington, D.C. – Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet today released the following statement on the Republican health care plan, which was released last night and will be considered by a House Committee tomorrow:
“After having years to prepare a replacement bill, the Republican leadership is rushing committee votes on a poorly drawn plan,” Bennet said. “This is being done without public input, without hearings, without estimates on costs or premium increases, and without knowing how many people will lose coverage.
“I have long said I am willing to work with anyone committed to improving our health care system. There were problems with health care before the ACA passed and there are problems with the system now. Coloradans, especially those in rural communities, deserve reforms that will reduce their health care costs. But the Republican health care plan does nothing to fix or improve affordability, coverage, or quality of care. Instead, this plan-created in secret-would make things dramatically worse, as the immediate bipartisan outcry suggests.”
More than 400,000 Coloradans gained coverage through the Affordable Care Act‘s Medicaid expansion, which the Republican plan intends to phase out. Medicaid also provides health care for 470,000 children in Colorado. Republicans and Democrats have shared concerns that substantial and rushed changes to the Medicaid program could result in barriers to life-saving health care services for those who are most vulnerable.
Although the bill continues protections for those with pre-existing conditions, it adds provisions that could result in substantial financial burdens on Coloradans. Those with lapses in coverage would have to pay a 30 percent penalty on their premiums for one year.
When the Affordable Care Act was drafted, dozens of public meetings and hearings were held in both the U.S. Senate Finance and Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committees. The Finance Committee held a seven-day markup of the bill. This was the longest Finance Committee markup in 22 years and resulted in a bipartisan 14-to-9 vote in favor of the bill.