Rep. Jan Schakowsky released the following statement after House Republicans at the last moment released a bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act and announced plans to vote on it on Wednesday:
“No wonder House Republicans hatched this bill in secret and kept it hidden for so long” said Rep. Schakowsky. “What they’ve managed to come up with is a dangerous plot that threatens the quality, affordability, and accessibility of healthcare for Americans.
“This bill is anti-consumer: it will raise premiums and allow cutbacks in benefits for hard-working Americans. It is also completely anti-woman: it would defund Planned Parenthood and deprive women of access to preventive services like mammograms and diabetes testing. The bill will slash Medicaid and leave states like Illinois in an even bigger budget hole. The big winners in this bill are corporations and wealthy Americans. The ultra-rich and the corporations they run are given massive tax breaks at the expense of children, seniors, and people with disabilities.
“As this bill makes its way through the Energy and Commerce Committee, I vow to fight tooth and nail against the Republican plot to take away healthcare from millions of Americans.”