Almost every Pennsylvanian will be affected by the Republicans’ disastrous plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act. There are more than 5 million Pennsylvanians with pre-existing conditions; the Republicans’ health care plan would jeopardize their care. More than 715,000 Pennsylvanians have benefitted from Medicaid’s expansion; the GOP’s health plan will roll back funding for Medicaid and impose caps on coverage. More than 3,200 people died of a drug overdose in Pennsylvania in 2015; the GOP bill slashes funding to the Medicaid programs that combat the opioid epidemic.
The Republicans’ health plan is projected to increase premiums for working families by 20% next year. It will charge an age tax on older Pennsylvanians and throw seniors who are in nursing homes on the street. It will make prescription drugs unaffordable for millions. It endangers women’s health by defunding Planned Parenthood.
“This proposed bill is unconscionable. It is heartless, immoral, and wrong. This bill, crafted in secret and thrust upon those who have to vote on it, is harmful to the millions of people depending on health care for themselves or their families. Our medical care is not a financial ledger; our lives and those of our parents and their children are at stake,” said Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairman Marcel L. Groen. “We are better than this. As a nation, we are a caring people. We do not give to the rich at the expense of the poor. Rich or poor, young or old, we must oppose this legislation with everything we have. Let’s fix what needs to be fixed in the Affordable Care Act and maintain all the good that the act has accomplished. Let’s stop playing games with people’s lives.”