Rep. Doggett Condemns Republican Plan Replacing ObamaCare with NothingCare

Contact: Luis Botello Faz

Watch the Congressman's remarks here

Today, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Ranking Member of the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, spoke out against the Republican-created health care crisis. After previously rejecting Rep. Doggett's amendment to maintain the tax credits that help millions of families afford ACA plans, Republicans shut down the government for weeks, and waited all year to eventually offer a bill that replaces ObamaCare with NothingCare.

Rep. Doggett also reacted to some Republicans joining Leader Jeffries' discharge petition to maintain the ACA credits for three more years:

"This last-minute effort by four Republicans to insulate themselves from public outrage may provide them some political cover, but it will do nothing for the struggling families who now face soaring health premiums. After signing our Democratic petition to maintain essential support for the Affordable Care Act, they once again voted against our motion to provide immediate relief by taking up the petition today."

Watch the Congressman's remarks here.

Rep. Doggett's remarks, as delivered, are below:

In a bill that they call 'big' and 'beautiful,' Republicans have approved the biggest reduction in access to health care in American history. They rejected my amendment in committee to maintain the tax credits that make the Affordable Care Act truly affordable. Now, after shutting down the government for weeks, delaying further weeks, they offer this sorry bill, this loser, wrapped up in a bow for Christmas.

To Andrew and his family down in Austin, this phony bill means zero relief on premiums. Premiums that are going to spike for his family by nearly $2,000 per month. Nothing for Russell, a prostate cancer survivor just two years away from Medicare, wondering how he will afford the screenings and any necessary care.

And for a mother in Austin who contacted me about the stop-loss provision that is reinforced in this bill, it means the possibility that after her three-year-old child was diagnosed with cancer, they will lose all their coverage. These are real-life stories from my neighbors who have been forgotten by Republicans in their rush to provide more tax benefits for their billionaire buddies. They forget the struggles of so many working Americans.

Republicans have made over 70 attempts to destroy the Affordable Care Act, which they all opposed. They peddled junk insurance policies that would deny essential consumer protection benefits under the Affordable Care Act. They could even make matters worse with one provision in this bill that will allow the reinstituting of pre-existing conditions that were used to bar coverage for so many people before the Affordable Care Act.

This is their commitment to deny health care, to provide no relief on premiums that are soaring.

In short, it means replacing ObamaCare with NothingCare. I yield back.