Hi there,

There has never been a more urgent time for courageous, daily, independent news. Media is essential to the functioning of a democratic society. Can you support Democracy Now! with $15 donation today? With your contribution, we can continue to go to where the silence is, to bring you the voices of the silenced majority – those calling for peace in a time of war, demanding action on the climate catastrophe and advocating for racial and economic justice. Every dollar makes a difference. Thank you so much!

Democracy Now!
Amy Goodman

Non-commercial news needs your support.

We rely on contributions from you, our viewers and listeners to do our work. If you visit us daily or weekly or even just once a month, now is a great time to make your monthly contribution.

Please do your part today.

Donate

House GOP Health Bill Could Put Coverage Out of Reach of Millions

HeadlineMay 05, 2017

The House of Representatives on Thursday voted narrowly to do away with the Affordable Care Act, replacing it with a healthcare bill that would dramatically roll back Medicaid, provide hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts to the wealthy, gut protections for patients with pre-existing conditions and add tens of millions of Americans to the ranks of the uninsured. The legislation passed by a 217-213 vote, with 20 Republicans and every Democrat opposed. House Speaker Paul Ryan rushed the vote at the request of President Trump, before the Congressional Budget Office had a chance to “score” the bill, meaning Republicans voted in favor of legislation whose full impact remains unknown. Speaker Ryan hailed the vote as an historic achievement.

Speaker Paul Ryan: “A lot of us have been waiting seven years to cast this vote. Many of us are here because we pledged to cast this very vote.”

President Trump celebrated passage of the bill in a Rose Garden ceremony with Republican congressmembers, saying the legislation would lower healthcare premiums. But a Center for American Progress analysis found that surcharges on premiums for patients with pre-existing conditions could rise by over $140,000 for some cancer patients, while some women could see a 450 percent rise in the cost of insuring a pregnancy. The legislation would also block Medicaid reimbursements to Planned Parenthood for one year unless the women’s health group agrees to stop offering abortions.

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top