WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) released a statement on Thursday after Senate Republicans finally released their secret health care repeal bill. Their bill would raise costs and worsen care to pay for huge tax cuts for the wealthy. Senate Republicans are trying to force the bill through Congress without any hearings, amendments, and debates, and are denying the American public a fair, independent analysis of the bill. The bill would charge sick people more for health care, force millions of people to lose their health insurance, and prevent millions of people from accessing treatment for addiction amid the opioid crisis. 

“Now we know why Mitch McConnell wrote this bill in secret – it purposefully makes health care worse and more expensive for just about everyone so that the very richest people in America can get a huge tax cut. I just can’t understand why anyone would run for office to do something so cruel. Donald Trump was right – this really is mean, and in many ways this bill is meaner than the House bill,” said Murphy. “People in Connecticut are scared. They know if this passes, they’ll be one illness away from total financial ruin. They know their premiums will go way up and the amount of health care they get will get will go down. They know their family will always be one accident away from having to choose whether to pay their medical bills or their mortgage.” 

“Congress doesn’t get it. People back home in Connecticut just want health coverage that covers what they actually need it to cover for a price they can afford to pay. I will keep working hard to stop this disastrous bill and get Congress to focus on the simple, bipartisan things we can do to bring down costs,” added Murphy.

Earlier this year, Murphy led 17 senators in demanding that Senate Republican leadership conduct an equally transparent and thorough deliberative process on Trumpcare as was conducted in drafting and passing the Affordable Care Act in 2009. The senators contrasted the dozens of bipartisan meetings and hearings, and more than 160 hours of floor debate, with the unprecedented steps that Congressional Republicans are currently taking to force Trumpcare through Congress.

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