INDIANAPOLIS – While Congressman Messer sought to goad Senate Republicans yesterday into passing a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act that would take insurance from 18 million Americans immediately, Congressman Rokita has been oddly silent—but both Members of Congress have the voting record supporting full repeal.
Senate Republican leadership yesterday sought to force a vote to fully repeal the Affordable Care Act after they failed to find enough GOP votes to support their own overhaul. Congressman Messer supported the move, saying in a statement that Republicans “must repeal Obamacare NOW” rather than trying to improve the health care system.
Americans should be thrilled that Congressman Messer failed to get his wish for full repeal. The proposal should be a disaster for the health care system, with 32 million Americans losing their coverage over 10 years and 18 million losing it immediately. HIP 2.0, which insures 400,000 Hoosiers, would be rolled back. Premiums for an average 40 year-old would immediately rise by at least 20%. And hundreds of billions of dollars for opioid funding, long-term senior care, and other crucial services would be eliminated.
Congressman Rokita and his office, meanwhile, stayed silent on the last-gasp push despite repeated calls previously for Republicans to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. That doesn’t mean that staying quiet will insulate him from Hoosiers’ anger over how Republicans have handled health care. Both Congressmen Rokita and Messer voted for the American Health Care Act earlier this year that would take away insurance from 23 million Americans. And they both have voted repeatedly for full repeal of the Affordable Care Act in the House, which would have had the same disastrous effects as this week’s latest Senate strategy.
“Republicans like Congressman Messer and Congressman Rokita never seem to be satisfied with how cruel their health care proposals are. By calling for full repeal, folks like Congressman Messer show that they want to cripple our nation’s healthcare system for political gain,” said Will Baskin-Gerwitz, Senior Media Strategist for the Indiana Democratic Party. “And while Congressman Rokita may lack the courage to say where he stands on this last-gasp proposal from Senate Republicans, make no mistake—his voting record makes clear he’s a staunch supporter of proposals to end HIP 2.0 and take coverage away from massive numbers of Americans.”
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