McMorris Rodgers votes ‘yes’; all Dems, Reichert, Herrera Beutler vote ‘no’

UPDATE (May 4, 2017) — Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly voted 217-213 today to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with the American Health Care Act (AHCA), also known as Trumpcare. If approved by the Republican-controlled Senate, the AHCA will cost more than 24 million Americans their health insurance, slash Medicaid by $880 billion over 10 years, undo protections for people with pre-existing conditions, dramatically increase health costs for seniors, allow insurers to impose lifetime caps in coverage, and provide hundreds of billions in tax cuts for families making more than $250,000 per year.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-5th) was the only member of Congress from Washington state who voted “yes.” Every Democrat from Washington and, in fact, every Democrat in the entire House voted against this bill, as did 20 Republicans, including Washington Reps. Jaime Herrera Beutler and Dave Reichert.

Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-4th) missed the vote because of a family medical emergency at home.

Thank you for your calls. They made a difference! Much more on this tomorrow at The Stand!

Call Congress: ‘NO’ on new Trumpcare bill

UPDATE (May 4 , 2017) — House Republican leaders say they will vote TODAY on their long-stalled bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with legislation that will result in more than 23 million Americans losing their health insurance and allow states to opt out of protecting coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. And Rep. Dave Reichert (R-8th), who has said he is undecided and has faced intense lobbying — including from President Trump, who is desperate for a political victory on “repealing Obamacare” — could literally be the deciding vote!

TAKE A STAND! — Please call your U.S. Representative RIGHT NOW toll-free at 866-829-3298 — especially if it’s Reichert — and tell him or her to vote “NO” on the new version of the American Health Care Act (AHCA), also known as Trumpcare.

UPDATE (April 28, 2017) — Lacking the votes to pass it, House Republicans will not rush to vote on their latest health care bill. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-3rd) is reportedly the only member of Washington’s delegation of Republicans listed as a “no” vote. So keep the calls coming to urge opposition! GOP leaders will continue to pressure members to support this bad bill.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 27, 2017) — In the rush to show progress on President Trump’s agenda in his first 100 days in office, House Republicans may vote on a second attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare with a new plan that’s actually worse than the previous failed plan. A floor vote could come as early as Friday on an amended version of the American Health Care Act (AHCA), also known as Trumpcare.

Negotiations between the far-right House Freedom Caucus and Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.) resulted in changes to the bill that will allow states to waive protections for those with pre-existing conditions so insurers could once again discriminate against people based on their medical history. It would also allow states to opt out of regulations that require insurers to cover essential health benefits like maternity care, mental health, substance abuse treatment, and hospitalization.

To add insult to injury, the insurance plan for members of Congress is exempt from these changes, so they and their staff keep protections of the Affordable Care Act while the same provisions are repealed for the rest of us. (UPDATE: After a swift public backlash against this, GOP leaders now say they will remove the provision exempting themselves.)

TAKE A STAND! — Please call your U.S. Representative TODAY toll-free at 866-829-3298 and leave a message for him or her to vote “NO” on the new AHCA. These calls are especially important for constituents of Reps. Jaime Herrera Beutler and Dave Reichert, who are considered moderate Republicans and whose votes could decide whether this passes or not. Herrera Beutler opposed the original AHCA because of the negative impact it would have on millions of children, and nothing has changed to address those concerns. Although Reichert voted for the AHCA in committee, as the bill was amended to appease far-right Freedom Caucus members to weaken consumer protections, he said he was now “undecided.” CALL THEM TODAY!

The Congressional Budget Office’s analysis of the original AHCA text projected 24 million working people would lose their health coverage. The latest changes to the bill will likely increase that number.

Here are some more details from the AFL-CIO Fact Sheet on the original AHCA:,

The Congressional Republican health plan is an attack on everyone’s health benefits. No health care coverage — workplace plans, Medicare, Medicaid or the individual insurance coverage now available as a result of the Affordable Care Act — is untouched.

The Republican health plan will take health coverage away from 24 million people. Congress’ own budget experts say the Republican plan will take health benefits away from 24 million people once it goes fully into effect. This haphazard “repeal and replace” effort will result in painful taxes on working families, cuts to Medicaid, and tax giveaways for the super-rich. Of all the bad ideas in this flawed plan, forcing workers to pay a so-called “Cadillac tax” on employer provided health care has to be among the worst. That’s a terrible plan for health care in America.

The Congressional Republican plan isn’t really a health care plan at all. It’s a massive transfer of wealth from working people to Wall Street. The Republican plan gives the 400 highest-income households an average tax cut of about $7 million each. The average millionaire household will get more than $50,000 every year. Insurance corporations will score $145 billion over 10 years from the Republican plan, while pharmaceutical manufacturers will get $25 billion. Republicans pay for these tax breaks by cutting health benefits for Americans who struggle the most to make ends meet and keeping the so-called “Cadillac tax” on working people’s health plans.

For more than a century, the labor movement has fought to make health care a right for every American. The Republican plan contradicts this very idea by making care less affordable and less accessible. It’s bad for health care, it’s bad for working families, it’s bad for our economy and we fully oppose it.