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REP. ENGEL – TAKING AWAY HEALTH CARE FROM 30 MILLION AMERICANS IS A WASTE OF THE PEOPLE'S TIME
01/20/11Washington, DC -- Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY17) criticized the Republicans for producing political theater as their first major act of governing. Their quixotic repeal of the landmark Affordable Care Act, is simply a “charade” and a terrible way to show the American people that they plan to work together with Democrats to fix the many problems facing our nation, Rep. Engel said.
“If the Republican majority was serious about working with Democrats, as beautifully articulated on the House floor last week following the Tucson tragedy, they have picked a strange way to show it. Repeal of the Affordable Care Act has as much of a chance of becoming law as I have of becoming King of England. It is a waste of the people’s time to be here today voting on a purely political bill which has a snowball’s chance of passing the Senate, and no chance of being signed into law by the President.
“This repeal could be a death sentence for some Americans, and it would certainly bankrupt others, if it became law. It is irresponsible governance and diverts the focus from putting Americans back to work, and instead would put millions of others out of work,” added Rep. Engel. To view his comments from the House floor – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4GKtkUcx7w
“The Republican ‘We Don’t Care Act’ would take away health care from over 30 million people, forcibly remove young adults, up to age 26, from their parents’ health plans, leaving them vulnerable to health crises, reopen the ‘donut’ hole to increase costs to seniors for prescription drugs, and empower insurance companies to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions – which includes HALF of the American population. Today they voted to do all of these things.
“If Republicans are serious about reform – and I doubt they are since during the many years they were in charge, they did nothing to reform the flawed system – then they should be working with us to change parts of the bill. Certainly there are ways we can come together and do that, but it is apparent by this vote that they have no intention of doing so. Instead of governing, they would rather put on a show.
“I urge Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to file this bill in the proper place – his trash can. He should ignore the hypocrisy of Republicans who are demanding an up and down vote on this bill, considering the Senate Republican minority blocked hundreds of bills in the last two years for purely political purposes.”
The reality for Americans is that repealing the Affordable Care Act would:
- Raise the number of uninsured Americans by 32 million – once again placing the burden of care upon more expensive emergency rooms.
- Explode the deficit by $230 billion by 2021, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.
- Re-open the “donut” hole for Medicare Part D prescription drugs increasing costs for millions of seniors,
- Force young Americans up to 26 years old to be removed from their parents’ plans and be on their own should catastrophic health issues occur,
- Empower insurance companies to deny ailing Americans with pre-existing conditions, and to cap the coverage of others who are in great need of care,
- Increase the taxes on small businesses who provide health care for their employees,
- Halt the preventative cancer screenings and annual check-ups for seniors,
- Force high-risk Medicare patients who are hospitalized to be continually readmitted, rather than allow for comparable services in community care programs,
- Stop advances in health care technology rather than looking ahead at new and innovative ways to care for Americans in the 21st century and beyond.
For District 17 in New York (Bronx, Rockland, Westchester Counties), the consequences of repeal would mean:
- Up to 289,000 people would be vulnerable to coverage denials from insurance companies, including up to 42,000 children, due to pre-existing conditions,
- 400,000 people would lose consumer protections from their employer-based insurance or private insurance,
- Up to 15,000 small businesses and 136,000 families would lose health care tax credits,
- 7,000 seniors would pay more for prescription drugs from the re-opening of the “donut” hole in the Medicare Part D drug plan,
- 91,000 seniors would be denied preventative care benefits, halting treatments which could nip devastating diseases in the bud,
- 9,300 early retirees would have their health costs increased
- 2,700 young adults would have their new health coverage eliminated,
- 49,000 more people would be left without health insurance
- $312 million annually would be added to the costs of local hospitals to provide uncompensated care.
“I call on my Republican colleagues to come forward with something better. If they have a plan to cover the 30 million people we are covering, and are able to do so with a Congressional Budget Office score better than ours, then I welcome the discussion.
“This is both hypocrisy at its worst, and an example of bad government. If this is going to be the legacy of the 112th Congress, then it is going to be a long two years for the American people,” added Rep. Engel, a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
A List of More Than 200 Organizations Opposed to
H.R. 2, Patients’ Rights Repeal Act
| AARP |
| AFL-CIO |
| AFSCME |
| AIDS United |
| Alliance For A Just Society |
| Alliance for Children and Families |
| Alliance for Retired Americans |
| American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry |
| American Academy of Family Physicians |
| American Art Therapy Association |
| American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry |
| American Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation |
| American Association of Pastoral Counselors |
| American Association of University Women (AAUW) |
| American Association on Health and Disability |
| American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network |
| American Counseling Association |
| American Dance Therapy Association |
| American Diabetes Association |
| American Federation of Teachers |
| American Foundation for Suicide Prevention/SPAN USA |
| American Group Psychotherapy Association |
| American Heart Association |
| American Lung Association |
| American Mental Health Counselors Association |
| American Muslim Health Professionals |
| American Nurses Association |
| American Psychiatric Association |
| American Psychiatric Nurses Association |
| American Psychological Association |
| American Public Health Association |
| American Small Business League |
| Anxiety Disorders Association of America |
| Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum |
| Association for Ambulatory Behavioral Healthcare |
| Association for Community Affiliated Plans |
| Association for the Advancement of Psychology |
| Association of University Centers on Disabilities |
| Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) |
| Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law |
| Black Women’s Health Imperative |
| B'nai B'rith International |
| California Primary Care Association |
| California Rural Indian Health Board |
| Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids |
| Campus Progress |
| Catholic Health Association |
| Catholics United |
| Center for American Progress Action Fund |
| Center for Clinical Social Work |
| Center for Community Change |
| Center for Integrated Behavioral Health Policy |
| Center for Medicare Advocacy |
| Center for Reproductive Rights |
| Center on Budget and Policy Priorities |
| Centers for Community Change |
| CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Inc) |
| Child Welfare League of America |
| Childbirth Connection |
| Children's Defense Fund |
| Children's Dental Health Project |
| Children's Health Fund |
| Clinical Social Work Association |
| Clinical Social Work Guild 49, OPEIU |
| Coalition on Human Needs |
| CommonHealth ACTION |
| Communication Workers of America |
| Community Action Partnership |
| Community Catalyst |
| Community Organizations in Action |
| Consumer Action |
| Consumers Union |
| Corporation for Supportive Housing |
| Cystic Fibrosis Foundation |
| Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance |
| Direct Care Alliance |
| Disability Rights Wisconsin |
| Doctors for America |
| Easter Seals |
| Eating Disorders Coalition for Research, Policy & Action |
| Every Child Matters Education Fund |
| Faith in Public Life |
| Faithful America |
| Faithful Reform in Health Care |
| Families USA |
| Health Care for America Now |
| Herndon Alliance |
| HIV Health and Human Services Planning Council of New York (Planning Council) |
| Japanese American Citizens League |
| Jewish Women International |
| Labor Council for Latin American Advancement |
| Leadership Council on Aging Organizations (65 organizations) |
| Leadership Council on Civil and Human Rights |
| League of Women Voters of the U.S. |
| LiveStrong |
| Main Street Alliance |
| Maryland Women’s Coalition for Health Care Reform |
| Mautner Project: The National Lesbian Health Organization |
| Medicare Rights Center |
| Mental Health America |
| MomsRising |
| Montana Women Vote |
| NAACP |
| NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals |
| NARAL Pro-Choice America |
| National Alliance on Mental Illness |
| National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum |
| National Association for Children’s Behavioral Health |
| National Association for Rural Mental Health |
| National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders -- ANAD |
| National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a) |
| National Association of Chronic Disease Directors |
| National Association of Community Health Centers |
| National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors |
| National Association of Mental Health Planning & Advisory Councils |
| National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners |
| National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems |
| National Association of Social Workers |
| National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors |
| National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS |
| National Coalition for LGBT Health |
| National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery |
| National Coalition on Health Care |
| National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare |
| National Consumers League |
| National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare |
| National Council of API Physicians |
| National Council of Asian Pacific Americans |
| National Council of Jewish Women |
| National Council of La Raza |
| National Council of Urban Indian Health |
| National Council on Aging |
| National Council on Problem Gambling |
| National Disability Rights Network |
| National Education Association |
| National Farmers Union |
| National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health |
| National Foundation for Mental Health |
| National Gay & Lesbian Task Force Action Fund |
| National Health Law Program |
| National Hemophilia Foundation |
| National Hispanic Medical Association |
| National Indian Health Board |
| National Institute for Reproductive Health |
| National Latina Health Network |
| National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health |
| National Medical Association |
| National Minority AIDS Council |
| National Network of Public Health Institutes |
| National Organization for Women |
| National Partnership for Women and Families |
| National Physicians Alliance |
| National Puerto Rican Coalition |
| National Research Center for Women & Families/Cancer Prevention and Treatment Fund |
| National Senior Citizens Law Center |
| National Spinal Cord Injury Association |
| National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable |
| National WIC Association |
| National Women’s Health Network |
| National Women's Law Center (and 37 other orgs) |
| NETWORK |
| Out of Many, One |
| Paralyzed Veterans of America |
| Partnership for Prevention |
| PHI (Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute) |
| Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health |
| PICO |
| Planned Parenthood Federation of America |
| Prevention Institute |
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