Rep. Kind's Statement on House Republican Leadership’s Decision to Pull the Health Care Bill

Amid chaos within their own party House Republican Leadership was forced to delay a vote on their health care bill. This will be the second time in two days that they have had to delay the vote.

“It is clear that House Republican leadership is trying to force a bad bill. Instead of rushing forward a bill, without any hearings, I hope they use this time to recognize what works in healthcare and work in a bipartisan manner to fix what doesn’t and lower healthcare costs for all Americans,” said Rep. Kind.

Watch Rep. Kind’s floor speech on why the bill is a bad deal for Wisconsinites here.

The bill would have an especially negative impact on older Wisconsinites. It would take $75 billion dollars away from Medicare, which over 137,270 people in Wisconsin’s Third Congressional District depend on, and jeopardizes the benefits that seniors have earned. Also, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that insurance premiums for older Wisconsinites could increase by 25%.

While Wisconsinites would be forced to pay more for less, drastic cuts are made to BadgerCare, and access to care in rural areas is jeopardized. Instead of providing more health care coverage to Wisconsinites, the bill gives over $800 billion in tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires. The wealthiest .01% will receive a yearly average tax break of almost $200,000.