Senate Republicans Continue to Hide Their TrumpCare Bill
Mariel Saez 202-225-3130
After House Republicans passed their TrumpCare bill with no hearings, no witnesses, and little debate, Senate Republicans are following their lead and attempting to hide their TrumpCare bill from the American people. Senate Republican leaders refuse to release text of the bill, yet they are planning to bring the legislation to the Floor before the next District Work Period. Republicans are hiding the bill behind closed doors because they know that the more the public learns about the bill, they more they’ll dislike it. Here’s a look at recent polls:
- A recent Quinnipiac Poll said 62% of Americans disapprove of the TrumpCare bill.
- An analysis by New York Times’ Upshot, which combined recent polls to estimate support for Trumpcare, shows not a single state supports the bill:
- “We found that Republicans have produced a rare unity among red and blue states: opposition to the A.H.C.A.”
- “A majority of Republican senators currently represent states where less than a third of the public supports the A.H.C.A.”
While Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refuses to release the text, he claims “nobody’s hiding the ball here,” which has earned him an “Upside Down Pinocchio” from the Washington Post:
“…McConnell’s position has changed, even though he will not acknowledge it. He was against the reconciliation process for health care in 2010; he has embraced it now. He was against secrecy and closed-door dealmaking before; he now oversees the most secretive health-care bill process ever. And he was against voting on a bill that was broadly unpopular — and now he is pushing for a bill even more unpopular than the ACA in 2010.”
In 2009, Senator McConnell said:
“This is a very important issue. You know, we shouldn't try to do it in the dark. And whatever final bill is produced should be available to the American public and to the members of the Senate, certainly, for enough time to come to grips with it… And we are going to insist — and the American people are going to insist — that it be done in a transparent, a fair and open way.” [NBC, 6/20/17]
But how is the Senate’s TrumpCare bill being written?
“The Senate bill to scale back the health-care law known as Obamacare is being written in secret by a single senator, Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and a clutch of his senior aides.” [Washington Post, 6/19/17]
Senate Republicans know this is a bad process, with many admitting they don’t know what’s in the bill or directly criticizing leadership for the secret process:
Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL): “The Senate is not a place where you can just cook up something behind closed doors and rush it for a vote on the floor…Every camera in the world’s going to have to see what's in it” [Politico, 6/18/17]
Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK): “We're going to need a significant amount of time [to review text]… More than hours.” [Politico, 6/19/2017]
Senator Bob Corker (R-TN): “The process is better if you do it in public… Obviously, that’s not the route that is being taken.” [NY Times, 6/15/17]
Senator John McCain (R-AZ): “Asked his level of comfort with the process, Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, cut off a reporter before he could finish his sentence: ‘None,’ he said.” [New York Times, 6/15/17]
Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK): “I don't know what it is that will actually come forward. This has been part of my frustration. What's the Senate bill going to look like? I don't know.” [Vox, 6/15/17]
Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT): When a reporter asked what is in the Senate health bill and said the public doesn’t know, he responded: “Well join the crowd. I’m in the same category.” [Twitter, 6/15/17]
Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA): “I do encourage leadership to work on transparency.” [KCCI Des Moines, 6/15/17]
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY):“Have you seen it? ...My preference would be a more open process in committees…with hearings and people on both sides.” [NY Times, 6/15/17]
Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI): “I want to know exactly what’s going to be in the Senate bill, I don’t know it yet… It’s not a good process.” [USA Today, 6/12/17]
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC): “We know this is not the best way to do health care…” [Twitter, 6/12/17]
Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA): “Until I see the language I don't know what's there and so I would like to see language.” [USA Today, 6/12/17]
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT): “It's not yet clear what it is going to look like at the end of the day. I have some grave concerns about what we’re doing so far…” [ABC This Week, 6/11/17]
Editorial Boards are slamming Senate Republicans forkeeping Americans in the dark:
Miami Herald Editorial: Secrecy Surrounding Healthcare Bill Makes Us Sick
“Republican leaders in the Senate are deciding how deeply they will disrupt the lives of their constituents in secret.” [6/18/17]
Lincoln Journal Star Editorial: Obamacare Repeal Must Be Done Transparently
“So far, the GOP has failed to govern in a transparent manner when it comes to replacing the existing health care law…Voting in officials who will change the law is democratic. A single party constructing the bill in complete secrecy, without any public hearings to date, so that it can quickly be passed before being fully understood, is not.” [6/17/17]
St. Louis Post-Dispatch Editorial: GOP Senate Quietly Resuscitates A 'Mean' Health Care Bill
“Behind closed doors, a group of 13 GOP senators has all but completed work on a Senate substitute. No one outside the Senate leadership knows details, including its cost. No public hearings on it are scheduled…. This process defies two centuries of Senate tradition that says the upper chamber is the statesmanlike brake on the passions of the more raucous House. It defies everything that various GOP senators said last month.” [6/14/17]
New York Times Editorial: The Senate Hides Its Trumpcare Bill Behind Closed Doors
“There is no mystery why the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, is trying to push this bill through quickly. The legislation would repeal major provisions of the Affordable Care Act. Opening it to scrutiny before a vote would be the congressional equivalent of exposing a vampire to sunlight.” [6/13/17]
Washington Examiner Editorial: Republicans, Bring Your Healthcare Bill Out For Inspection
“Like President Trump, congressional Republicans get ready to make major moves by shutting their intentions off from the disinfecting reach of daylight. In the latest case, their secrecy surrounds the writing of a healthcare bill to repeal and replace Obamacare… The bill has not been made public, and the regular order of a committee process has been abandoned.” [6/13/17]
Even President Trump is criticizing TrumpCare, calling the bill he pushed the House to pass “mean” in a recent meeting with Senate Republicans. The Congressional Budget Office confirmed that the House bill would, in fact, have a harmful impact on the American people by:
- Kicking 23 million Americans off coverage by 2026, including 14 million by 2018.
- Allowing insurers to discriminate against Americans with pre-existing conditions by pricing them out of the market.
- Increasing premiums and out-of-pocket costs.
- Effectively bring back annual and lifetime limits on coverage.
- Imposing on ‘age tax’ on older Americans, who will see their premiums increase dramatically.
- Destabilizing insurance markets, with one-sixth of the population living in areas in which the individual market would become unstable in 2020.
- Eliminating essential health benefits in many parts of the country, including hospitalization, prescription drugs, mental health and substance abuse, maternity care, and more.
- Draining the Medicare Trust Fund.
It’s time for Senate Republicans to show the American people their TrumpCare bill. With millions of Americans at risk of losing coverage or seeing their costs skyrocket, Democrats will continue to demand an open and transparent process.
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