DPCC Co-Chair Cicilline Slams Graham-Cassidy TrumpCare Bill

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WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman David Cicilline, Co-Chair of the House Democratic Policy & Communications Committee (DPCC), appeared on Fox Business Network to discuss the radical Graham-Cassidy TrumpCare bill. According to a new report, issued by the Center for American Progress, the bill would explode premiums for Americans with pre-existing conditions by as much as tens of thousands of dollars. Below are excerpts from the interview and click here to watch the video

"Sadly the Republican proposal doesn't address any of the problems in the Affordable Care Act. This provides a huge tax cut to the richest Americans, makes deep cuts in Medicaid [and] doesn't require states to cover pre-existing conditions. This is again an ongoing effort to pay for a huge tax cut for people in this country who don't need it. It does not require pre-existing conditions and a report release yesterday said for some very serious conditions people will face tens of thousands of dollars in additional premiums, so it doesn't require that pre-existing conditions be covered. It's a huge tax cut for the richest people who don't need it, makes deep cuts to Medicaid which covers nursing home care, individuals with disabilities and the like, this is more of a trade-off. It's a $800 billion tax cut and it's for people who don't need it and to finance that tax cut, which is really driving this, they make deep cuts in health care to the rest of the American people. It's a terrible bill we have to fight hard to defeat it. We need to increase competition, drive down costs, make prescription drugs more affordable by letting the government negotiate discounted prices. We [Democrats] put in these proposals, we are not in the majority, we have a lot of good ideas of how to drive down costs, increase competition and make prescription drugs more affordable. The Republican party won't bring those forward."

"Tell that to the millions and millions of Americans who couldn't afford insurance and now have it. We ought to be focused on bringing down costs, increasing competition, and making prescription drugs more affordable. There are lots of things we can do working together in a bipartisan way to drive down the costs of health care. Repealing the Affordable Care Act fundamentally, in order to finance a huge tax cut, making deep cuts in Medicaid and nursing home care for our seniors for our most vulnerable population is not the right approach."