Elizabeth Warren: ‘Trumpcare isn’t a health care bill’
Sen. Elizabeth Warren continued her fiery criticism of the Republican health care agenda Thursday, after the House of Representatives passed a revised bill to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. The legislation — which was voted on without an official estimate of its impact and received no Democratic votes — is a step toward fulfilling President Donald Trump’s pledge to repeal his predecessor’s landmark health care law.
Warren roundly denounced it.
“Trumpcare isn’t a health care bill,” the Massachusetts senator said in a statement Thursday afternoon.
“A bill that destroys health care for millions to shovel cash to the rich isn’t a health care bill,” she continued, adding that the bill would result in millions losing coverage and would undermine Medicaid and states’ efforts to combat the opioid crisis.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the first version of the American Health Care Act would result in an increase of 24 million uninsured people by 2026. The amended version passed Thursday by the House Republican majority was voted without a CBO score — meaning its effects are uncertain. According to Warren, the new bill is “even more brutal” than the original.
“This isn’t football,” she said. “It’s not about scoring points. Trumpcare will devastate Americans’ healthcare. Families will go bankrupt. People will die. Disease, sickness, and old age touch every family. Tragedy doesn’t ask who you voted for.”
The New York Times has a look here at how the amended Republican health care bill would change the existing law. Following its passage Thursday, the bill is expected to be rewritten in the Senate, where it faces a perhaps higher hurdle.
