U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, released a statement on Monday after the nonpartisan Congressional Budget office (CBO) released an analysis of the Senate Republican’s health care repeal bill. The CBO found that the bill would leave 22 million more Americans uninsured by 2026 and cause premiums to skyrocket for middle class Americans nearing retirement. Senate Republicans are expected to force a vote on the bill later this week without any hearings.
“This CBO score should be the last straw for Republicans. Why on earth would any senator vote for a bill that causes 22 million to lose their health care, drives up heath care premiums, and reduces the quality of care people receive? This bill is a humanitarian disaster and now CBO has confirmed this fact. Republicans should scrap this monstrosity of a bill and sit down with Democrats to craft a better path forward for our country’s health care system,” Murphy said.
In a letter to CBO earlier this week, Murphy emphasized that the American people deserve a fair, independent analysis of the Discussion Draft written so that they have a clear understanding of how devastating the publicly released bill would be. He also requested that CBO provide an estimate of the impact the legislation will have beyond the first 10-year budget window. The bill Senate Republicans released would gut state Medicaid eligibility, coverage, and benefits starting in 2025, occurring mostly outside of the first 10-year budget window that CBO is required to analyze.
Earlier this year, Murphy led 17 senators in demanding that Senate Republican leadership conduct an equally transparent and thorough deliberative process on Trumpcare as was conducted in drafting and passing the Affordable Care Act in 2009. The senators contrasted the dozens of bipartisan meetings and hearings, and more than 160 hours of floor debate, with the unprecedented steps that Congressional Republicans are currently taking to force Trumpcare through Congress.
