AFSCME Pres. Lee Saunders criticized the proposal by House Republicans to replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
He said the plan – which the House Energy and Commerce Committee began slicing and dicing today – “is no replacement at all” for tens of millions of Americans who rely on the law to stay healthy, and added that it is “simply a tax cut for corporations and the wealthy.”
The proposal would hurt just about every segment of the population.
“This so-called replacement plan strips women of access to vital preventive care services by defunding Planned Parenthood,” Saunders noted. “It endangers Medicare solvency and allows insurance rates for older Americans to skyrocket. Millions of working people, children and people with disabilities will be put at risk. In fact, some of the only interests who stand to gain from this plan are the health insurance and pharmaceutical corporations that will receive massive tax breaks, paid for by increasing out-of-pocket costs for patients.”
The ACA, also known as Obamacare, has saved countless lives and brought peace of mind to many working families around the country.
Families like Patricia Byrd’s.
An AFSCME retiree, Byrd has an adult son who was denied health insurance for most of his life because of a pre-existing condition. Passage of the ACA in 2010 made it possible for her son to get the coverage he needed. Watch her story below.