Senator Murray announced a
resolution to undo the Trump Administration’s 1332 waiver rule, which
would erode pre-existing condition protections for millions of Americans
and would allow providers to offer plans without essential health
protections that cost more and cover less
Senate Democrats can force a majority-threshold vote on the Senate CRA resolution, which is sponsored by all 47 senate Dems
Senator Murray:
“Support for [this resolution] is a simple measure of who is trying to
fight for patients with pre-existing conditions, and who is trying to
score political points by throwing them under the bus”
***WATCH SENATOR MURRAY’S REMARKS HERE***
(Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Patty
Murray (D-WA), the top Democrat on the Senate health committee, today
led Senate and House Democrats in unveiling a Congressional Review Act
(CRA) resolution that would roll back the 1332 waiver rule, another
effort by President Trump and his administration to sabotage Americans’
health care and another attack on the 130 million Americans who rely on
the critical pre-existing condition protections the Trump administration
is trying to eliminate. The rule, if left in place, would allow states
to greenlight substandard, “junk insurance plans” that don’t fully
protect people with pre-existing conditions, don’t cover essential
health benefits like prescription drugs and maternity coverage, and
raise costs on many American families. Unlike other legislation on the
Senate floor, CRA resolutions only require a majority vote to pass, and
they can be brought to the floor with signatures from 30 senators. All
47 Senate Democrats are cosponsors of the resolution.
“This is a straightforward step we should
take to protect families’ health care, and support for it is a simple
measure of who is trying to fight for patients with pre-existing
conditions, and who is trying to score political points by throwing them
under the bus,” Said Senator Murray. “Democrats
are going to continue calling on Republicans to stop attacking people’s
health care, and start working with us to fix what they’ve been
breaking—before it’s too late.”
Senator Murray has been a leader in the fight to
hold President Trump and Republicans accountable for their repeated
attempts to undermine health care and health protections, recently calling for
a reversal of President Trump’s Title X gag rule, which would undermine
the Title X program’s vital funding for family planning and health, and
calling out Republicans for pushing forward with their reckless lawsuit to eliminate vital health care protections.
Read Senator Murray’s full remarks below or watch them HERE:
“Thank you Senator Wyden.
“While President Trump and Republicans have been
attacking people’s health care, Democrats remain focused on seizing
every opportunity we can to fight for patients and families.”
“We’ve offered several ideas to repair some of
the damage Republicans are trying to do, including a resolution to argue
on behalf of patients and families in Republican’s partisan lawsuit
that could…
“…strip health care from tens of millions of people…
“…kick young adults off their parents’ plans…
“…scrap protections for pre-existing conditions….
“…end essential health benefits requiring
insurers to cover costs like prescription drugs, emergency care,
maternal care, and more…
“…and leave families with even higher health care bills.
“And today Democrats are introducing a bill to
reverse President Trump’s decision to warp a program supporting
innovation and misuse it to encourage states to join his sabotage
efforts, and support junk insurance plans that leave patients without
coverage they can rely on.
“This is a straightforward step we should take to protect families’ health care…
“And support for it is a simple measure of who
is trying to fight for patients with pre-existing conditions, and who is
trying to score political points by throwing them under the bus.
“So far, Republicans have refused to relent in their attacks on people’s health care…
“We’ve put forward ideas to repair the damage
President Trump has caused through his sabotage, including asking them
to join our resolution to take patients’ and families’ side in the
lawsuit…
“But instead Republicans are championing the
position that people’s health care and protections should go away, and
their health costs should go up.
“But the stakes are too high for us to stop fighting.
“Democrats are going to continue calling on
Republicans to stop attacking people’s health care, and start working
with us to fix what they’ve been breaking—before it’s too late.
“And we will all continue holding them accountable if they don’t.
“Thank you, and now I’ll turn it over to Senator Cardin.”
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