U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL14) issued the following statement after U.S. Senate Republicans failed to achieve the votes necessary to repeal the Affordable Care Act and end Medicaid as we know it:

“Families and small business owners can breathe a sigh of relief now that Senate Republicans have failed to find the votes to rip health coverage away from millions of Americans as part of their repeal scheme.  Families across the Tampa Bay area and across the country rallied at the grassroots to fight Trumpcare and appear to have won the day. I was proud to stand ‘shoulder-to-shoulder and heart-to-heart’ with all of you!

“I urge my Republican colleagues now to turn to bipartisan solutions to lower health care costs and enhance competition.  Washington does not have all of the answers and it is time to have open public hearings in both Houses of Congress with knowledgeable experts, rather than draft a bill in the back room and try to ram it through.  President Trump’s response to just do nothing at this point is not responsible leadership.

“I want to work with my colleagues to build on the successes of the Affordable Care Act, which has dropped the number of uninsured Americans to its lowest in history and ended discrimination against our neighbors with pre-existing conditions. I urge my colleagues to work with me by increasing competition in exchanges in areas of the country that need it and tackling the skyrocketing costs of drugs. These actions and cooperation could strengthen the ACA and expand healthcare coverage for American families.”

U.S. Rep. Castor serves as the Vice Ranking Member of the U.S. House Energy & Commerce Committee, which has oversight over health care policy.  Rep. Castor helped to craft the Affordable Care Act that protects the coverage of so many Florida families today.  Throughout the assault on the ACA, U.S. Rep. Castor has joined with families, small business owners, seniors, patients, as well as health care professionals and advocates, in Washington, D.C. and in her district of Tampa Bay, Fla., to highlight the devastating impact that White House and Republican efforts would have on the huge gains in coverage and peace of mind that the ACA has brought families across the country.

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