Ben Monterroso says GOP failed on Obamacare: ‘thinking only about party and the rich’
President Trump and the Republican-led House suffered major mission failure on Friday when they came up short on votes to destroy President Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA) that has greatly helped Latinos, and replace it with a plan that is more expense, offers less services, and cuts the expanded Medicaid program.
“Trump and his party failed because they were thinking only about their party and the rich, and not everyday Americans who want access to affordable health care. We want the ACA mended, not ended. The word ‘affordable’ was not even in the title of the GOP bill that went down,” stated Ben Monterroso, executive director of Mi Familia Vota, regarding the failure of the GOP’s “American Health Care Act.”
photo Will O’Neill via Flickr
“House Republicans raced to the floor with a cruel, disastrous replacement bill that would cut care to 24 million people and raise fees, while delivering billions in tax breaks, mostly for wealthy corporations and individuals. They got tripped by conservatives in their own party who blocked the plan for the wrong reason: it did not go far enough to repeal popular provisions of Obamacare.
“The Affordable Care Act has greatly helped Latinos; about 20 million Americans have gained access to affordablehealth insurance under Obamacare. Ending the popular program and replacing it with something that is worse and hurts low-income and older patients — those who need it the most — is not the answer. That is why the AARP, and associations representing hospitals, doctors and nurses joined the opposition.
“No politician should ever play games with life-saving programs. But that is what the White House and Congress were doing when they tried to repeal Obamacare near the 7th anniversary of its passage in order to settle an old political score.
“If congressional leaders are really serious about fixing the current health care program, they should reach across the political aisle to grow bipartisan support for a plan that benefits everyone, instead of relying only on Republicans to pass a bill that mostly benefits the wealthy.
“Health care should be a right and not a privilege. Unfortunately, the controlling party in Washington does not agree. We have taken note, and we will respond with a ‘No’ in the next election to those who vote against us.”
