On the recordMarch 7, 2017
I stand today in strong opposition to the Republican proposal to repeal the Affordable Care Act. This is a rushed bill, Mr. Speaker, that was written behind closed doors in total secrecy with no daylight and with no access to the important content of this bill that all of us should have ample time to be able to digest the details of it and be able to make a good decision that is consistent with the will of our constituents. This is a rushed bill that was written behind closed doors, again, in total secrecy. Mr. Speaker, procedurally, we have not seen a CBO score of this bill. There have been no hearings on this bill. There has been no expert testimony on the impact of this bill, and the effect to healthcare costs for families or the quality of coverage all of those families will receive is completely unknown. Substantively, this bill is an absolute nightmare. It guts Federal requirements for essential health benefits like maternity care. It shatters working Americans' access to insurance covering abortions. It creates age-based subsidies, repeals all the ACA taxes, and completely destroys the Medicaid expansion program which so much helped many of our States. {time} 1730 In our country, at least 11 million people will lose their healthcare insurance coverage as a result of this reckless dismantlement of Medicaid. In my district alone, over 156,000 individuals are going to lose their coverage with the repeal of the Medicaid expansion. Over 156,000 people, Mr.…
