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For Immediate Release
Contact:

Sarah Courtney
(202) 263-1332 (office) 
(917) 913-1994 (cell)
scourtney@lwv.org

Senate Health Care Bill Is Not Worthy of This Great Nation

Legislation Will Defund Medicaid and Harm Millions of Americans

WASHINGTON

The League of Women Voters president, Chris Carson today issued the following statement on the "Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017" unveiled by Senate leadership:

The Better Care Reconciliation Act is even worse than the version we saw pass in the House of Representatives and is not worthy of this great nation. The cuts to Medicaid will be massive and will destroy the system that so many Americans rely on. This is a nasty bill that will hurt millions of Americans and we urge Senators to reject it.

It is not at all surprising that this bill is a terrible one. Legislation developed in secret and rushed to passage is usually trying to hide something. Like the House bill, the Senate plan will cut coverage and raise costs for millions of Americans while giving a huge tax break to the wealthiest individuals and large corporations. The Senators who wrote this bill should be ashamed of themselves.

As the League has said before, we know the Affordable Care Act is not perfect, however it has successfully provided health care coverage to tens of millions of Americans who previously went without.

The Senate health care bill will hurt tens of millions of people across our nation. Rushing through this legislation that will negatively impact so many Americans is just wrong.

The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, has fought since 1920 to improve our systems of government and impact public policies through citizen education and advocacy. The League's enduring vitality and resonance comes from its unique decentralized structure. The League is a grassroots organization, working at the national, state and local levels.