U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Camas, announced Thursday morning she would not support House Republicans’ proposed Affordable Care Act replacement bill.
“I remain steadfast in my commitment to repeal and replace Obamacare with health care solutions that better serve all residents of Southwest Washington. But we can do better than the current House replacement plan, and I cannot support it in its current form,” she said in a statement.
The House was set to vote on the replacement bill, the American Health Care Act, sometime Thursday — the seventh anniversary of the Affordable Care Act being signed into law. But Thursday afternoon, House leaders announced the vote would be delayed. It could come as early as Friday.
Last week, Herrera Beutler said she had concerns about how the House bill would impact children’s hospitals, the poor and the elderly. Those concerns, she said at the time, must be addressed.
“While I appreciate this week’s effort by Speaker (Paul) Ryan and his leadership team to better protect older Americans from health care cost increases, the difficulties this bill would create for millions of children were left unaddressed. I’m disappointed that it appears my amendment to strengthen the Medicaid safety net for the kids who depend on it for their health care will not be considered. Protecting vulnerable children is a core purpose of the Medicaid program and when the program fails to do so, it fails entirely,” Herrera Beutler said in her statement. “I will not vote to let those kids fall through the cracks.”
In Clark County, more than 58,000 children are enrolled in the state Medicaid plan, Apple Health.
“Southwest Washington residents also deserve a greater commitment to lowering health costs so that out-of-pocket expenses, premiums and taxes are taking up less of their monthly paychecks. Congress should more purposefully move ahead with free market reforms that increase competition between insurance providers and drive down premiums and deductibles. Obamacare also levied numerous taxes on hardworking Americans, and in our effort to pull back this harmful law we should more quickly repeal them,” Herrera Beutler said.
“In the final analysis, this bill falls short. We can’t give up on replacing Obamacare with a solution that provides affordable, high-quality health care to all Americans,” she said. “I will remain active and engaged at every step until Congress gets this right.”
Murray slams process
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., took to the Senate floor Thursday morning, calling on Republican leaders to drop the bill. Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate health committee, criticized the process of pushing the bill to a vote without public hearings, testimony or expert views.
“I am deeply worried about the process of this bill,” Murray said. “I just want to say, as the ranking member on the health committee, it is appalling that we have had no hearings, no expert witnesses, no markup.”
“We have not seen this bill. It is being rushed through. It will impact every American family. And it deserves the time of day,” she said. “Not some created timeline, deadline, simply to pass a campaign promise. And not to do the right thing for the American people.”
Murray urged Republicans to work with Democrats to find a solution that doesn’t leave vulnerable families at risk.
