February 05,2015

Senators Wyden, Murray Respond to Latest Republican Attempt at Repealing the Affordable Care Act

(Washington, D.C.): Today, Ranking Members Ron Wyden (D-OR) of the Senate Finance Committee and Patty Murray (D-WA) of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee issued the following statements in response to the introduction of the Hatch-Burr proposal to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would take away health insurance from millions Americans and force working and middle class families to pay more for their health care coverage.

“While this proposal was unveiled with great fanfare, it’s little more than a lethargic rehash of last year’s unworkable ideas. Just like last year, this ‘new’ proposal falls woefully short.  It effectively raises taxes on the middle class, removes bedrock protections for consumers and chips away at key coverage benefits that Americans rely on.  In short:  nothing in this white paper achieves what millions of Americans have today thanks to the Affordable Care Act – quality, affordable, health care,” Wyden said.

“Finally, it’s important to remember that what Republicans have offered are concepts, not formal legislation. If Republicans were as good at writing actual legislation as they are promoting lofty but empty rhetoric, we could have a serious debate. We’re still waiting,” Wyden said.

“It’s deeply disappointing that once again, Republicans are trying to put politics first, put power back in the hands of insurance companies rather than patients, and undo the progress we’ve made toward a health care system that works better for families across the country,” said Murray.

“Americans have been very clear that they aren’t interested in partisan fights about dismantling the Affordable Care Act, which has helped ten million people get affordable, quality health care coverage, and they certainly aren’t interested in the middle class tax hike this proposal would cause. Our constituents want patients and working families, not politics, to come first as we look for way to build on this law. That’s what I’ll be focused on, and I hope my Republican colleagues will reconsider their partisan approach and work with Democrats to move our health care system forward, not backward, for the families and communities we serve,” Murray said.

###