Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) criticized what he called “Trumpcare” as a proposal with no real home, saying Thursday morning that “no one likes this bill.”
“Hospitals, doctors, governors, conservatives, liberals, non-partisan groups, and most of all, the people who will no longer have affordable health care,” Schumer continued, during a press conference with fellow senators and health care patients.
“So we Democrats are here today to tell our Republican friends: Turn back, drop this irresponsible plan, stop this effort to repeal, and we’ll work with you to improve the Affordable Care Act. But Trumpcare is a loser for just about all of America unless you’re in the top 1 percent.”
Sen. Angus King (I-ME), who followed Schumer, corrected him: “By the way, it’s not only Democrats, it’s independents, too, Chuck.”
Democrats have been harshly critical of the American Health Care Act, especially its replacement of Obamacare’s subsidies for buying health care with less generous tax credits.
The proposal would also allow health insurance companies to charge a 30 percent penalty for those applying for care who have gone without coverage for more than 63 days. And the ACHA would repeal the 3.8 percent investment tax used to pay for parts of Obamacare, effectively a huge tax break for the rich.
Major doctor and hospital advocacy groups have come out against the plan, as have some conservative Republicans and those worried that it freezes Medicaid expansion in 2020, including in many states governed by Republicans where that federal money has come in handy.
Schumer did his part to ensure that the plan, which has encountered a bumpy rollout, was tied to Trump, who called it “Our wonderful new Healthcare Bill” on Tuesday.
“Are you a senior? Trumpcare means higher costs and less coverage. Are you a woman? Trumpcare means higher costs and less coverage. Are you or someone in your family living with a disability? Trumpcare means higher costs and less coverage. In fact, Trumpcare is really a tax break for the rich, not a health care program,” Schumer said. “That’s the real motivation of so many of our Republican colleagues, to take people whose income is above $250,000 and give them an average tax break, to take the top .01 percent and give them an average tax break of $200,000 while making these people pay more. It’s horrible.”
“President Trump has talked about helping working America,” he continued. “But the plan he has embraced, Trumpcare, helps the rich and hurts the average American. And that’s not surprising given all the other things his administration is doing. His administration has developed a pattern. Health care is part of that. They talk like populists but act like those helping wealthy special interests time after time after time.”
