IOWA–(ENEWSPF)–January 4, 2016. At a town hall meeting in Davenport, Iowa, Hillary Clinton today warned about a new Republican effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act scheduled to occur later this week. Since 2011, House Republicans have voted more than 50 times to repeal or dismantle the Affordable Care Act. But a vote scheduled in the U.S. House for this Wednesday will mark the first time the bill will advance to the President’s desk. That’s because last month, Senate Republicans were able to use a procedural maneuver to sidestep the chamber’s filibuster rules and pass the measure by a simple majority vote.
President Obama is expected to veto the bill, but Clinton said that with Republicans coming closer than ever to repealing the ACA, it shows the high stakes involved in preventing a Republican from winning the White House in 2016.
At the Davenport Town Hall Clinton said, “This week, Republicans are going to vote again to repeal the Affordable Care Act. And this time, it looks like it might get to the President’s desk. They’re willing to turn their backs on 19 million Americans, to turn our healthcare system back to the insurance companies so if you have a pre-existing condition it will be hard for you to afford care. If you’re a woman, you’ll be charged more, because that’s what used to happen. Prescription drugs — hey, watch out. They’ll go as far and fast and high as the drug companies can take them. Because they have no plan, the Republicans just want to undo what Democrats have fought for decades and what President Obama got accomplished. So we need a president, just as President Obama will, to veto that. But if there’s a Republican sitting there, it will be repealed. And then we will have to start all over again. So when I think about what’s at stake in this election, I don’t think the stakes could be higher.”
According to the latest data from the White House, a full repeal of the ACA by Republicans would:
- Re-open the prescription drug donut hole, raising costs after ACA saved 9.4 million seniors and people with disabilities who have over $15 billion on prescription drugs, an average of $1,598 per beneficiary, since 2010
- Deprive Up to 129 million Americans with pre-existing conditions, including up to 17 million children, of protection from being denied coverage because of their health.
- Take away coverage from the more than 16 million uninsured people who have gained coverage since the Affordable Care Act took effect. The uninsured rate is now at the lowest level recorded across five decades of data.
Clinton has been speaking out against Republican plans to repeal the ACA throughout here entire campaign. During her announcement speech in July on Roosevelt Island, Clinton said of the GOP: “They want to take away health insurance from more than 16 million Americans without offering any credible alternative.”
Source: http://www.hillaryclinton.com
