Political Quotes

“in one cruel swoop late last week, more than 300,000 Americans lost the opportunity to buy affordable health insurance for years to come. Specifically, I am talking about the removal behind closed doors by budget negotiators of the free choice voucher provision that would have been a lifeline to hundreds of thousands of low-income Americans. One could say: Senator Wyden, everybody has to give a little during tough times. Why is this different? The difference is that hundreds of thousands of Americans without health care options, in a process that doesn't even have any direct cost to the Federal budget, are being asked to give up a guarantee of coverage just a year after passage of the Affordable Care Act. They are going to be forced to make a Hobson's choice between unaffordable insurance and going without health care, directly contradicting the theoretical underpinnings of the Affordable Care Act. Under that provision, those whose income falls below 400 percent of the poverty line and whose employer-sponsored health insurance premiums are between 8 and just under 10 percent would be exempt from having to purchase health coverage. Unfortunately, now that they do not have access to the exchanges, they will also not qualify for government assistance to insurance. The provision leaves hundreds of thousands of Americans who need health care as a lifeline out in the cold.…”