U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL14) announced that the TrumpCare bill actually is getting worse for Florida families and our state budget, as it heads to the House floor for a vote on Thursday. The changes released by the GOP late last night in the “manager’s amendment” are an attempt to win the votes of the right-wing Tea Party caucus.
“TrumpCare will be devastating to Florida families and Speaker Ryan is desperately trying to ram this bill through the U.S. House before the American people understand the impact. TrumpCare rips insurance coverage away from millions of Americans, including at least 1.7 million in Florida who have gained coverage, and increases costs on everyone. It includes larger cuts to Alzheimer's patients, the disabled, children and families who rely on Medicaid and larger tax breaks for the wealthy,” U.S. Rep. Castor said. “Rather than improve health care for my older neighbors and listen to our concerns, Republicans made no change to help people age 50-64 keep their coverage. In fact, premiums for our older neighbors are poised to increase by thousands of dollars so that coverage is simply out of reach.”
The changes to TrumpCare were released by House Republicans literally in the middle of the night and are scheduled for a vote on Thursday. Among the key changes in this “race to the bottom” to pick up Tea Party votes are preventing non-expansion states – Florida being one of those states -- from expanding Medicaid at the enhanced federal matching rate; allowing states the option of imposing work requirements for Medicaid, even though the majority of adults on Medicaid are already working; allowing states a block grant option for Medicaid, which health care experts warn poses the same dangerous risks for states and beneficiaries as the previous bad provision; and, accelerating getting millions in tax breaks into the hands of those wealthy few.
“TrumpCare would already be the largest transfer of wealth from working families to the rich in our nation’s history. After stealing health coverage from millions of families, and billions of dollars from Medicaid and Medicare, the Republicans hand $600 billion in tax giveaways to the rich and big corporations. In fact, the Republican bill gives $2.8 billion to the 400 richest families in America each year,” U.S. Rep. Castor added.
