TODAY: Baldwin Forces Vote to Stop Trump Affordable Care Act Rule that Will Terminate Care for 2 Million Americans

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) will force the Senate to vote on her resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to prevent up to two million Americans from having their health care coverage terminated and to repeal the Trump Administration's rule that will undermine the Affordable Care Act marketplace, raise out-of-pocket costs, and make it easier for insurance companies to cover fewer services.

"Americans have been clear that they need lower health care costs. And what does President Trump do to respond? He pushes a policy that will cause out-of-pocket costs to skyrocket, reduce the benefits you get for the same plan, and terminate coverage for two million Americans," said Senator Baldwin. "Today, we will put all Senators on the record - do they want to be responsible for these high costs and their constituents losing their insurance coverage, or will they stand with Americans who just want some breathing room?"

A livestream of Senator Baldwin's floor speech, which is scheduled for 1:10 CST/2:10 EST is available here.

The Trump Administration's rule promotes the use of catastrophic health plans with extremely high deductibles and out-of-pocket costs, loosens physician network requirements for plans, and proposes that insurers be allowed to offer "non-network" plans that may not cover the cost of care. This would make it easier for insurers to raise out-of-pocket costs, sell new kinds of junk insurance coverage, increase working families' deductibles, cover fewer services, and kick more providers out of network.

The result would be worse coverage at higher costs, including:

• Terminate Insurance for Up to 2 Million: According to CMS estimates, the rule would reduce enrollment in ACA plans by up to 2 million.
• Jack Up Costs: Insurance would become more unaffordable. For example, bronze plans would have maximum out-of-pocket costs of $15,600 for an individual or $31,200 for a family in 2027 - almost the entire income of an individual earning at the federal poverty level.
• Reduce Benefits: Benefits may be reduced in many states - meaning Americans could lose access to coverage for substance use disorder treatment, hearing aids, or other critical services.
• Increase Red Tape: Paperwork burden would increase on 4.7 million Americans, making it more difficult for them to get the coverage they deserve and kicking millions off their insurance.
• Cut off Americans from their Doctors: Access to providers would decrease as insurance companies sell non-network health plans - with unlimited costs to consumers - and reduce the number of providers in their networks.

Baldwin's CRA resolution would repeal this destructive rule under the Congressional Review Act. Repealing this rule would prevent millions of Americans from losing their health insurance, stop working families from facing astronomical out-of-pocket costs, and make it harder for insurance companies to take advantage of Americans by selling them junk insurance.

The resolution is also led by Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) and it is cosponsored by Senators Ed Markey (D-MA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Angus King (I-ME), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mark Warner (D-VA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL). Representatives Kathy Castor (D-FL-14) and Tom Suozzi (D-NY-03) also introduced this resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives today.

More information about this rule is available here. Full text of this resolution is available here.

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