WASHINGTON, D.C.— Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) made the following statement today after the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass the American Health Care Act to repeal and replace Obamacare:
“Today we made history by taking the first important step toward rescuing hardworking families from the failures and skyrocketing costs of Obamacare.
“For years now, American families have been struggling under the broken promises of this failed law, losing their doctors and plans they were told they could keep, and seeing their deductibles and premiums skyrocket by double digits to the point where many can no longer afford care at all.
“Our bill is focused on lowering costs and putting patients back in charge of their health care decisions while making sure that people with pre-existing conditions are protected from high costs and can’t be denied coverage.
“We also reform the badly broken Medicaid system by giving states the flexibility to implement innovative ideas on delivering better health care to low-income families. And we put more than $900 million back in the pockets of working families by cutting all the Obamacare tax hikes.
“Those Americans who lost their coverage, who were forced to choose between paying their mortgage or paying their premiums, who could not find full-time work as a result of businesses being forced to slash their hours under the crushing burden of the unaffordable mandates placed on them, were the Americans who suffered the real-life consequences of this failed law and sounded the alarm for years on the absolute necessity of repealing it. It was these Americans who sent Republican majorities to Congress on the mandate that we represent their families and repeal this harmful law.
“In 2016, that message was delivered to Washington loud and clear with the American people’s election of President Donald Trump, who ran on the pledge of scrapping Obamacare and replacing it with a better plan that put patients in charge of their health care decisions, instead of government bureaucrats in Washington. This also follows through on the commitment we made to the American people that we would repeal the devastating elements of Obamacare and replace it with real reforms that lower costs and restore patient-centered care.
“Today, the American people saw their government listen to their voices and act on their priorities, and I am glad to tell them that the days of Obamacare will soon be over.”
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