Colorado Representatives broke promise and voted to take away health care from hundreds of thousands of Coloradans
MEDIA RELEASEMEDIA STATEMENT
May 4, 2017
Contact: Katie Reinisch, 303-653-1009, katie@progressive-promotions.com
Adam Fox, 303-839-1261, afox@cohealthinitiative.org
This statement can be attributed to Adam Fox of the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative and the Protect Our Care Colorado Coalition:
“Today we saw the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly pass a disastrous bill that will end access to health coverage and care for millions of Americans. Representatives voted on the American Health Care Act, a bill with a 17 percent approval rating that guts the Medicaid program, stripping 600,000 Coloradans of their coverage and destroys protections for people with pre-existing conditions.”
“To make matters worse, the House was in such a hurry to pass this bad legislation for political reasons, they didn’t wait for the bill to be properly scored by the Congressional Budget Office to understand the full extent of the fiscal or human impacts of the bill, impacts that could only be worse than the original estimate for the legislation which failed to come up for a vote in March.”
“Coloradans can blame this vote for leaving a $14 billion crater in our state budget over the next 10 years, for increases in premiums going forward – especially for seniors, for eviscerating insurance benefits, and for bringing back high-risk pools, which Colorado already knows is a failed idea. Despite committing to keep protections for people with pre-existing conditions and ensure their voters can access coverage, Representatives Buck and Tipton voted for this terrible bill and broke their promise to constituents. Representative Coffman heard overwhelmingly from Coloradans and listened to their encouragement to vote against this bill.”
“The fight is far from over. This despicable bill must now go through the Senate, where Coloradans must look to Senators Bennet and Gardner for the wisdom to say no to this tax cut for the wealthy in disguise. Colorado has been a leader in health care and we hope both Senators Bennet and Gardner will vote for their constituents and end this absurd repeal effort once and for all.”
Protect Our Care Colorado is a coalition of 44 organizations in Colorado advocating to protect the health care of Coloradans. To learn more the coalition, visit ProtectOurCareCo.org.
Additional statements from coalition members:
Daniel Ramos,
Executive Director, One Colorado:
“The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has provided insurance to over 20 million Americans —including thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Coloradans and their families — who previously had none. It removed barriers to care for women, transgender people, LGBTQ elders, and people living with chronic diseases like HIV/AIDS. We call on Colorado Senators Michael Bennet and Cory Gardner to reject this so-called replacement because it will rip health care coverage away from the most vulnerable among us. LGBTQ people’s livelihoods currently depend on the continuation of the ACA.”
Christina Postolowski,
Rocky Mountain Regional Director, Young Invincibles:
“Thanks to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Colorado’s young adult uninsured rate has dropped by more than half, from 29 percent to 13 percent. Today, Representatives Buck and Tipton voted to reverse the progress Colorado has made. The Republican health care bill sentences the 31 million young people who have a pre-existing condition to a lifetime of discrimination, defunds Planned Parenthood, and guts Medicaid. Young people, and all Coloradans, expect more from their representatives and deserve better than an unconscionable bill that would destroy lives.”