Dear Friend,
Last week, I, along with many of you, fought against the Republicans’ healthcare bill, which failed to live up to the President’s promise of “insurance for everybody.” I’m relieved it failed to even come up for a vote, as 24 million Americans were at risk of losing health coverage under the misguided legislation — while millions more would have seen skyrocketing costs.
When this bill went through the two committees I serve on, I offered amendments to improve the legislation by safeguarding Medicare, restoring patient access to Planned Parenthood and protecting Medicaid. Unfortunately, all of those efforts were blocked.
In the end, it was clear the bill drafted by House leaders would have left middle-class families, seniors, women and people with disabilities far worse off. It gutted coverage for essential benefits like ER visits and prescription drugs, hiked insurance premiums by 20 percent, took $75 billion from Medicare and cut funding for Medicaid by more than $880 billion. It would have forced states to assume massive costs, or else begin rationing healthcare for 68 million children, pregnant women, seniors and people with disabilities.
Thanks to the thousands of calls from my constituents and Americans across the country, this destructive bill did not get a vote on the floor. We should build upon the reforms we’ve already made to expand coverage and reduce costs — this bill did none of that.
But our work doesn’t stop here. Since coming to Congress, I have worked tirelessly to find commonsense fixes to our nation’s healthcare laws, and I remain committed to making improvements to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that reduce costs, increase choices for hard-working families, simplify regulations and help more small businesses offer coverage. I look forward to continuing that work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle.
As always, my office is here to serve you. If you have questions or comments about the topics that matter most to you, I encourage you to contact me through my website. You may also keep up-to-date on what I’m doing by following me on social media. If you need assistance dealing with a federal agency, such as the VA, IRS or Social Security Administration, please do not hesitate to contact my Bothell office at (425) 485-0085.
Sincerely,
Suzan
