Press Releases

Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) today released the following statement after the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) scored Republican’s healthcare repeal bill:

“Today’s report is a stark reminder of just how reckless it was for Congress to vote on sweeping healthcare legislation without knowing how many middle-class families it would harm. There is no denying that the CBO score confirms this is a dangerous and irresponsible bill that torpedoes protections for pre-existing conditions, robs millions of their health insurance and raises costs for working families, seniors, women and people with disabilities,” DelBene said. “This destructive legislation has gone from bad to worse. I hope the Senate has the courage and wisdom to stop this ill-conceived legislation before it destabilizes our healthcare system.”

Today, DelBene spoke to the harms of the bill for people with pre-existing conditions in a House Ways and Means Committee hearing. Video can be found HERE.

House leaders pushed forward and passed their bill without an updated CBO estimate — forcing members to vote on the legislation without knowing how many more Americans would lose health coverage or face higher costs due to the last-minute changes. DelBene opposed the bill, which the Senate is now considering.

According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the Republican bill would cause 14 million Americans to lose health coverage within one year, and 23 million in the next decade. It also restores discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions, guts insurance coverage for essential health benefits like ER visits and prescription drugs, hikes insurance premiums by 20 percent.

In addition, the Republican bill gives a $7 million tax break to each of the 400 wealthiest American households, slashes benefits and protections for seniors, robs $75 billion from Medicare, defunds Planned Parenthood and cuts funding for Medicaid by more than $800 billion. That would force states to assume massive costs, or else begin rationing healthcare for 68 million children, pregnant women, seniors and people with disabilities — including 600,000 in Washington state.

DelBene serves on the House Ways and Means Committee and the Budget Committee, where she offered amendments on Medicare, Planned Parenthood and Medicaid to try and improve the legislation. Unfortunately, Republicans blocked all those efforts.

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