Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy today slammed Republican plans to quickly vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
The Democratic lawmaker says if the Republicans repeal Obamacare without putting something else in place first, insurers will leave the healthcare exchanges, and millions of people will lose health insurance.
“Everyone’s rates will go up. Everyone will be in jeopardy of losing their healthcare. This will leave no one untouched, if they unwind the Affordable Care Act without any plan for what comes next,” Murphy said.
The senator says even if Republicans make the repeal effective several years in the future, the health insurance exchanges could still collapse, as insurers leave a market that would soon cease to exist.
Murphy says the repeal would be ‘cruel and brutal,’ because it could undo protections provided under the law. Obamacare required insurers to provide coverage to people with pre-existing medical conditions, and it ended lifetime limits on what a health insurance policy would pay for coverage for a person.
Republican lawmakers are united on getting rid of the Affordable Care Act, but they are divided on what — if anything — should replace the health care law.
Some GOP lawmakers say Obamacare must be eliminated as soon as possible because it is a threat to the nation’s health care system.
Donald Trump’s election gives Republicans control of the White House and both houses of Congress — and a clear chance to overturn Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law without a veto by the departing Democratic president.