For immediate release
Contact: media@communitychange.org
Statement: GOP-Made Healthcare Crisis Looms As Senate Set to Vote on Enhanced Premium Tax Credits in ACA
Ahead of the Senate vote on extending the enhanced premium tax credits in the Affordable Care Act Community Change Action Director of Care Economy Jennifer Wells said:
“There’s an impending healthcare crisis for 22 million people and the most impactful thing to do is also the quickest and simplest: Immediately extend the enhanced Obamacare subsidies that have made care affordable for more people than ever before.
Instead, the GOP has been leading us into this crisis and wants to throw us to the insurance wolves. They want to take away a proven policy that keeps healthcare costs low regardless of how much insurance companies raise their rates.
We should be having a conversation about making the subsidies permanent and expanding access to more people, including immigrant communities. But every GOP proposal on healthcare that’s been presented so far would result in more people being kicked off of their health insurance or seeing their premiums go up. These Republican plans are thin on details, but one thing is clear: All of them will result in fewer people insured, more people taking on medical debt, and sicker communities.
Make no mistake, Republicans want to destroy public goods like Obamacare and Medicaid. In their place, they offer us chump change.
Our current system is far from perfect, but our elected officials should be focused on expanding healthcare to everyone – not tearing apart the seams of our safety net and adding more red tape for ordinary people to access basic care while their rich buddies still get their tax breaks.”
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