Hoyer: Republicans’ Health Care Bill Will Be a Disaster For Families In Our Country

WASHINGTON, DC - House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) spoke on the House Floor today to discuss the Republican bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which Republicans are rushing to the Floor for a voteon Thursday. Below is a link to the video and a transcript of the remarks.

Click here to watch the video. 

“Mr. Speaker, this week we will consider the most important bill that this House will consider in this Congress. Every day we're hearing from more and more Republican Members of this House and of the Senate who oppose, who oppose, who oppose the dangerous health care bill on the Floor this week.

“Just yesterday conservative Republican Representative Justin Amash tweeted the following – very conservative Republican from the mid part of our country said this: ‘While I’ve been in Congress I can't recall a more universally detested piece of legislation than this GOP health care bill,’ or health no care bill. This is just the most recent in a long list of statements by Republicans under the demerits of the bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

“It's interesting they named the American Health Care Act. The only thing they struck from our title was ‘affordable.’ It should tell you something about the bill. They replace it with a system that requires Americans to pay more and get less.

“This bill has been rushed through the committees without a single public hearing, not one, no testimony or expert view, and when the committees marked it up it did not have what we call a CBO score. That is simply Washington speak for the agency that is nonpartisan, bipartisan – with the Director appointed by the Republicans – to give us the advice of the consequences of the enactment of such legislation.

“They came back and told us that there would be 24 million less Americans insured by 2026. That would total 58 million uninsured Americans as a result of this bill just nine years from now. Republicans are rushing it to the Floor for two reasons.

“First, they know that if the American people see what this bill would do and what it would cost, it wouldn't pass. As a matter of fact, we have some information on that already because at town meeting, after town meeting, after town meeting the Republicans have held and Democrats have held on this bill, the overwhelming number of people that came to those town meetings said this is a bad bill, it will hurt us, it will hurt our health care, it will hurt our families, it will hurt our children.

“And we're rushing this bill that was introduced just some two and a half weeks ago. It was introduced on a Monday night, late at night. It was marked up less than 36 hours later in both committees, and they were so intent on getting it marked up and speeding it along that they held a hearing for 26 hours straight. Excuse me. It was not a hearing. No witnesses. They just held a markup for 26 hours straight. Now, I’m sure, Mr. Speaker, that millions of Americans were awake at 4:00 a.m. in the morning to see what the committee was doing. Obviously I’m not sure of that at all. Perhaps that was the strategy.

“Now that the CBO score, which I just relayed to you, has been released, we know the harm this bill will bring. As I said, 24 million Americans kicked off their insurance, including seven million Americans who are currently covered under plans provided by their employers. Premiums for individual policyholders rising 24% to 29%. This is not my view. This is the Congressional Budget Office whose Director was appointed by this Republican Congress and his predecessor, Dr. Elmendorf, testified in a hearing that we held because Republicans refused to hold a hearing on this bill, and he agreed with the Republican-appointed Director of the Congressional Budget Office.

“So you have a bipartisan agreement that this bill will harm Americans, and not just those 24 million Americans. It will harm all Americans because their premiums and co-pays and deductibles will go up. States will be forced to drop 14 million Americans from Medicaid, and I understand there’s a Manager's Amendment that will make it worse while cutting benefits and provider payments. A less fiscally sustainable future for Medicare. They shorten the life of Medicare, its fiscal sustainability by three years from 2028 to 2025. The list goes on, Mr. Speaker, of the reasons why this bill will be a disaster for families in our country.

“The second reason they pushed the bill so quickly is because they wanted to bring it to the Floor this week. Not next week. Not the week after. Not after thorough consideration. Not after hearings. Not after listening to the American people, but this week. Why this week? Because this week marks the seventh anniversary of the enactment of the law they are seeking to repeal. In other words, optics, spin, propaganda, message. That's what their timeline and their bill is all about – messaging. Not results, not reform. Political messaging.

“This is the fulfillment of a campaign pledge based on a premise that is no longer sustainable. Seven years after the law's enactment, the facts are clear. It has expanded coverage, improved benefits, banned discrimination against women and people with pre-existing conditions and disabilities, and prohibited annual and lifetime limits on coverage. Now, they keep some of those things in their bill because they were so popular they thought they couldn't get rid of them, but they have voted 65 times to repeal all those benefits.

“Is the Affordable Care Act perfect? Of course not. In the areas where it has fallen short, let's fix it together. But this bill, this bill repealing the law and making Americans pay more for less will throw our health care system into turmoil and put millions of Americans and more businesses at risk.

“That's why doctors oppose it. That's why hospitals oppose it. That's why senior organizations like AARP oppose it. There are literally a thousand organizations-plus that have opposed this legislation.

“We are now hearing reports that Republicans are making secret backroom deals with individual Members in order to win their support. The kind of desperate maneuvering that shows how unpopular this bill is.

“Republicans, Mr. Speaker, must remember that as the governing majority they will be responsible for what happens to our health care system under their watch. And I do not just mean this bill. I mean the lack of certainty and the turmoil that they have been creating for the Affordable Care Act market since not only Trump was elected but since they started attacking this bill just some years ago.

“Mr. Speaker, I urge my Republican friends, for the sake of their constituents, for the sake of the children of this country, for the sake of those who are at risk because of health challenges that confront them, I urge my Republican friends to abandon this dangerous bill and instead work with us to strengthen our health care system for all of our citizens. And I yield back the balance of my time.”