June 26, 2017

Duckworth Statement on CBO Analysis of Senate GOP Version of Trumpcare

 

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Following the release of the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office analysis of the Senate Republican healthcare plan, alternately known as Trumpcare, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) released this statement:

"It is shameful that Senate Republicans are taking such extreme measures to ram a bill through Congress that would rob 22 million Americans of their health insurance and force millions more to spend more money on less care - all so President Trump's billionaire friends can get a nice tax cut. All Americans should fear this dangerous proposal. It not only robs the most vulnerable of life-saving care, but it would harm millions of working Americans by taking away their employer-sponsored insurance, while placing middle-class Americans within one life-changing diagnosis away from having to choose between bankruptcy or death.

"This CBO report is alarming and it does not even fully account for Trumpcare's harmful impact since the CBO did not analyze how many people would lose their health insurance after 2026, when some of Senate Republicans' most drastic cuts to Medicaid would begin to kick in. I will continue to work with my Senate Democratic colleagues to do everything we can to stop Trumpcare in its tracks."

On Friday, Senator Duckworth (D-IL) wrote to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) requesting they account for GOP budget gimmicks that hide the true damage of Trumpcare. Since Senate Republicans delayed the implementation of their most harmful cuts to Medicaid until 2025, Duckworth asked the CBO to analyze how many people would lose their healthcare coverage over at least a 20-year period, instead of over the 10-year period that is the CBO's standard practice.