[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 72 (Thursday, April 27, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S2570]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               TrumpCare

  Mr. President, on TrumpCare, very briefly--on the new version of 
TrumpCare that may soon be headed for a vote in the House, let's not 
forget the reason that Americans were against the first version of 
TrumpCare. They are still in the second version. This version is worse, 
and there has been a lot of focus on a few of the changes.
  The fundamental nastiness of the TrumpCare proposal--raising the 
rates on people 50 to 65, 24 million people uncovered, difficulty in 
covering preexisting conditions--is still in this bill. In fact, it is 
even worse. The new TrumpCare will allow States to decide whether 
insurers have to cover Americans with preexisting conditions. It is 
hard to come up with a crueler bill than one that would have resulted 
in 24 million fewer Americans with healthcare coverage, but this new 
TrumpCare manages to do it. It would hurt even more Americans and bring 
us back to the days when an insurance company could deny you coverage 
exactly when you needed it most.
  I say to the more moderate Republicans in the House: If you didn't 
like the first version, you surely shouldn't like this version. 
Frankly, you will pay a huge consequence in the 2018 elections if you 
vote for it. We hope you don't vote for it because we know how many 
people it would hurt. Even if it passed the House, the chances for 
survival in the Senate are small. We don't even know if the new version 
would survive under the rules of reconciliation, the amendment to allow 
States to drop preexisting conditions. The fulcrum of the new changes 
very possibly violates the Byrd rule and would be kicked down here and 
need 60 votes, which they won't get for such a nasty provision.

  A warning to all those voting for it in the House: It may well be a 
chimera, all to save face for the President in his first hundred days.