On the recordJune 26, 2017
Mr. President, I come to the Senate floor, once again, to urge my colleagues to work in a bipartisan, transparent fashion to improve our healthcare system and help bring down costs. Over the weekend, members of the American Medical Association--the Nation's largest organization of doctors--had a chance to finally read the proposed Republican bill and found it violates their ``do no harm'' principle. According to a letter they wrote to Leaders McConnell and Schumer, ``Medicine has long operated under the precept of Primum non nocere, or, `first do no harm.' The draft legislation violates that standard on many levels.'' That is the conclusion of the American Medical Association, and they are correct. This bill will not lower costs, and it will not improve our healthcare system. Instead, it will remove health insurance coverage for millions of Americans. Indeed, the CBO has just released their estimate that 22 million Americans will lose their health insurance coverage. It will increase costs for everyone and decimate State budgets, creating a ripple effect throughout our economy. The bill my colleagues worked in secret to craft is, in a sense, a sham. It will not lower costs, and it will not improve our healthcare system, as they insist. Instead, it will remove health insurance coverage for millions of Americans--22 million, according to the CBO-- increase costs for everyone, as I said, and decimate State budgets.…





