Document Highlights Policies Already Implemented & Yet to be Released Actions / Quid Pro Quo Agreement Between Administration and Congressional Republicans to Administratively Weaken the ACA in Exchange for Votes to Repeal / Casey Releases Report Examining Trump Administration’s Efforts to Sabotage Affordable Health Care for Millions
Washington, DC - Recently, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, obtained a secret document, which the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) distributed during a closed-door meeting between the Trump Administration and the House Freedom Caucus. The document highlights a quid pro quo agreement to entice members of Congress to vote for partial repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Sen. Casey, along with other Senate Democrats, requested the document on three separate occasions via letters to HHS. To compel HHS to release the document, Sen. Casey threatened holds on a raft of Administration nominees.
“From day one, the Trump Administration has had a maniacal obsession to try to decimate the Affordable Care Act,” said Senator Casey. “It’s horrific that government officials are taking steps to erect barriers to prevent people from getting coverage. Also troubling, this secret document demonstrates how far the Administration and Congressional Republicans are willing to go, engaging in slimy backroom deals, to further their sabotage agenda.”
Based on the document, Sen. Casey released a report that that details the promises the Administration made to Congressional Republicans on that day in exchange for their support of the Republican repeal scheme—a blueprint that has largely been followed by the Administration as it has deliberately sabotaged health care coverage for the millions of Americans who rely on it. The report also highlights new actions that HHS is likely to take to further weaken the ACA, which will have a compounding negative effect on the affordability and quality of health insurance for individuals and families.
Despite the Administration’s actions, at least 8.7 million people have signed up for 2018 Marketplace coverage—evidence of a high demand for affordable and quality health insurance offered by the ACA and an indication that enrollment would have likely been much higher had the Administration implemented the law as intended.
Read the Republicans’ roadmap to sabotage the ACA.
Read Sen. Casey’s report detailing the harmful effects of the GOP sabotage plan.
###
